250,000 Twitter Accounts Hacked.
250,000 Twitter Accounts Hacked.
Anonymous
hackers attacked Twitter this week and may have gained access to passwords and
other information for as many as 250,000 user accounts, the microblog revealed
late on Friday.
Twitter said in a blog post that
the passwords were encrypted and that it had already reset them as a
"precautionary measure," and that it was in the process of notifying
affected users.
The blog post noted recent
revelations of large-scale cyber attacks against the New York Times and the
Wall Street Journal, but unlike the two news organizations, Twitter did not
provide any detail on the origin or methodology of the attacks.
"This attack was not the work
of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident," Twitter
said. "The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other
companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked."
Privately
held Twitter, which has 200 million active monthly users, said it was working
with government and federal law enforcement officials to track down the
attackers.
The company did not specifically
link the attacks to China in the blog post, in contrast to the New York Times
and the Wall Street Journal, which both said the hackers originated in China.
Twitter, the social network known
for its 140-character messages, could not speculate on the origin of the
attacks as its investigation was ongoing, said spokesman Jim Prosser.
"There is no evidence right
now that would indicate that passwords were compromised," said Prosser.
The attack is not the first time
that hackers have breached Twitter's systems and gained access to Twitter user
information. Twitter signed a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission
in 2010, subjecting the company to 10 years of independent privacy reviews, for
failing to safeguard users' personal information.
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