Twitter resets some account passwords in light of possible security issue
BY Staff Reports
Thursday, November 08, 2012
On Thursday morning, Twitter alerted users that it had accidentally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts than it believed may have been compromised.
"Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter," the e-mail says. "We've reset your password to prevent others from accessing your account." The e-mail includes a link that brings users to a password reset page, then prompts users to review their Applications and revoke access to any application they don’t recognize.
TechCrunch reports that Twitter usually sends out these types of e-mails when a significant number of accounts are hacked. Many users have Tweeted about receiving the e-mail or about having issues logging in to their accounts.
Now that Twitter has reported a security breach and reset the passwords of many users, the company has issued a statement explaining why it did what it did, saying they went too far:
“We're committed to keeping Twitter a safe and open community. As part of that commitment, in instances when we believe an account may have been compromised, we reset the password and send an email letting the account owner know this has happened along with information about creating a new password. This is a routine part of our processes to protect our users. In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused.”
