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Micro-blogging platform, Twitter, is urgng its users to consider changing their passwords to enhance the security of their accounts.
The social network issued the advise after a bug that unmasked passwords in its system.
In a tweet early Friday, Twitter Support said: “We recently found a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log. We fixed the bug and have no indication of a breach or misuse by anyone. As a precaution, consider changing your password on all services where you’ve used this password.”
In another blog post, Twitter explained the bug.
It said: “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.
“Due to a bug, 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.
Tips on Account Security
Even though Twitter stressed that no password information ever left its systems or was misused by anyone, it offered a few steps that can help keep account safe:
- Change your password on Twitter and on any other service where you may have used the same password.
- Use a strong password that you don’t reuse on other websites.
- Enable login verification, also known as two factor authentication. This is the single best action you can take to increase your account security.
- Use a password manager to make sure you’re using strong, unique passwords everywhere.
Twitter offered an apology in the end, saying: “We are very sorry this happened. We recognize and appreciate the trust you place in us, and are committed to earning that trust every day.”
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