Categories
News security Software

Twitter sends out e-mails to significant number users needing passwords on “compromised accounts”

If you found that your Twitter password was reset, there’s a valid reason for it.

Per CNET and the TweetSmarter blog, an unknown number of Twitter users have received a genuine e-mail from the company warning they should change their password as soon as possible.

In the e-mail, the microblogging company noted: “Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter. We’ve reset your password to prevent others from accessing your account.”

The company did not say in the e-mail that there has been a hack, a breach of data, or anything out of the ordinary, however. At this stage, it’s unclear how many have been affected or what’s caused the mass e-mailing of its users.

A post on Wednesday noted that in some cases when “large numbers of Twitter accounts have been hijacked,” the company sends out these e-mails en masse, even sending messages to accounts that may not have been affected by any hack or hijack to err on the side of caution.

So far, a few high profile accounts have noted interference, including David Mitchell, who said:

“Got an e-mail from twitter telling me that my password had to be changed because they thought my account had been hacked,” adding in another tweet: “So I’ve changed it, but the only evidence of hacking I can find is that my tweet about my Observer column last Sun has disappeared. Weird.”

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.