Such scenes are the front lines of U.S.-based web consulting companies, thrust into global expansion by design--or by circumstances they couldn't control.

FORBES: Innocents Abroad

"Although it seems that Twitter has been thrust into this situation a bit unfairly, a hack along these lines could have happened to the executives of more Web companies than anybody would like to admit, " Josh Lowensohn and Caroline McCarthy write on the news site.

CNN: Twitter hack raises questions about 'cloud computing'