Twitter Urges All Users to Change Passwords After Bug Left Them ‘Unmasked’

Date:

Twitter urged its more than 330 million users to change their passwords after a glitch caused some of them to be stored in plain text on its internal computer system.

The social network said it had fixed the glitch and that an internal investigation had found no indication passwords were stolen or misused by insiders, but it urged all users to consider changing their passwords “out of an abundance of caution.”

The blog did not say how many passwords were affected. But a person familiar with the company’s response said the number was ”substantial” and that they were exposed for “several months.”

Twitter discovered the bug a few weeks ago and has reported it to some regulators, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter.

The disclosure comes as lawmakers and regulators around the world scrutinize the way that companies store and secure consumer data, after a string of security incidents that have come to light at firms including Equifax Inc, Facebook Inc and Uber.

The European Union is due to start enforcing a strict new privacy law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, that includes steep fees for violating its terms.

The glitch was related to Twitter’s use of a technology known as “hashing” that masks passwords as a user enters them by replacing them with numbers and letters, according to the blog.

A bug caused the passwords to be written on an internal computer log before the hashing process was completed, the blog said. The company advised users to take precautions to ensure that their accounts are safe, including changing passwords and enabling Twitter’s two-factor authentication service to help prevent accounts from being hijacked.

ALSO READ : Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 to go on pre-order on Flipkart at 12PM today

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

New Announcement by Meta: Changing WhatsApp Business Pricing

Meta has officially announced significant updates to WhatsApp Business...

Pioneering Global Excellence: DMIHER’S Maiden Performance in Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025

"DMIHER Achieves Global Milestone: Debut Performance in Times Higher...

Building on Decades of Cooperation: Länd Here Campaign Invites Skilled Workers From Maharashtra to Germany’s Baden-württemberg

Decades of Partnership: Länd Here Campaign Welcomes Skilled Workers...