WASHONGTON – Twitter Inc urged its more than 330 million users to changetheir passwords after a glitch caused some to be stored in readable text onits internal computer system rather than disguised by a process known as“hashing”.
The social network disclosed the issue in a blog post and series of Tweetson Thursday afternoon, saying it had resolved the problem and an internalinvestigation had found no indication passwords were stolen or misused byinsiders. Still, it urged all users to consider changing their passwords.
“We fixed the bug and have no indication of a breach or misuse by anyone,”Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said in a Tweet. “As a precaution, considerchanging your password on all services where you’ve used this password.”
The blog did not say how many passwords were affected. A person familiarwith the company’s response said the number was “substantial” and that theywere exposed for “several months.”
The disclosure comes as lawmakers and regulators around the worldscrutinize the way that companies store and secure consumer data, after astring of security incidents at Equifax Inc, Facebook Inc and UberTechnologies Inc [UBER.UL].
The European Union is due later this month to start enforcing a strict newprivacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation, that includes steepfees for violators.
Twitter discovered the bug a few weeks ago and has reported it to someregulators, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matterpublicly. – Agencies