The official Twitter support channel has published a tweet asking users to change their passwords.
The tweet does not mention details, but a post on blog of the company says that the developers discovered a bug that allowed passwords to be stored "unmasked", that is, without any encryption, in plain text format.
Shortly after the tweet we received a warning email asking for exactly the same. You can see the email at the end of the post.
Twitter - What happened
Typically, twitter uses a strong hashing algorithm (bcrypt) to replace letters and numbers in passwords with a seemingly unrelated string of characters that "masks" the real ones. Hashing allows your credentials to be used to log in to Twitter and others services, without revealing the passwords you use to developers or system administrators.
Due to an error, the passwords before being hashed with bcrypt were written in plain text, revealing the passwords to the Twitter developers.
Twitter reports that they noticed the bug themselves and that the service it has not been tampered with.
Note that if you use the same password on other services, change it immediately.
Click to display the email
Hi @ iGuru_gr, |
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When you set a password for your Twitter account, we use technology that masks it so no one at the company can see it. We recently identified a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log. We have fixed the bug, and our investigation shows no indication of breach or misuse by anyone. |
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Out of an abundance of caution, we ask that you consider changing your password on all services where you've used this password. You can change your Twitter password anytime by going to the password settings page. |
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About The Bug |
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We mask passwords through a process called hashing using a function known as bcrypt, which replaces the actual password with a random set of numbers and letters that are stored in Twitter's system. This allows our systems to validate your account credentials without revealing your password. This is an industry standard. |
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Due to a bug, the passwords were written to an internal log before completing the hashing process. We found this error ourselves, removed the passwords, and are implementing plans to prevent this bug from happening again. |
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Tips on Account Security |
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Again, although we have no reason to believe password information ever left Twitter's systems or was misused by anyone, there are a few steps you can take to help us keep your account safe: |
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1. |
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Change your password on Twitter and on any other service where you may have used the same password. |
2. |
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Use a strong password that you don't reuse on other services. |
3. |
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Enable login verification, also known as two factor authentication. This is the best single action you can take to increase your account security. |
4. |
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Use a password manager to make sure you're using strong, unique passwords everywhere. |
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We are very sorry this has happened. We recognize and appreciate the trust you place in us and are committed to winning that trust every day. |
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Team Twitter |
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