Twitter resets passwords for millions of users

Twitter has personally warned millions of users that the passwords for their accounts may be on the Internet and that they must set a new password. The company reports that it has no indications that this is the result of a hack of its systems.

Twitter checked the database of 33 million usernames and passwords that appeared on the web this week against its own database and found “a number of accounts” that matched. In his blog Twitter does not say anything about numbers about this, but the company reports to The Wall Street Journal that it concerns millions. At the same time, millions of other accounts in the leaked database would not be at risk.

“Accounts whose passwords are in the street have been locked and require a reset from the owner,” Twitter reports. The company says it is certain that the database does not come from a hack of its servers. The account names and passwords would have been obtained by combining information from other hacks, via malware on victims’ systems or a combination of both, Twitter believes.

Earlier this week, the database with data from nearly 33 million accounts appeared online and even then the publishing site, Leaked Source, said it was probably not a data breach at Twitter itself. The data was provided by the same hacker, or collective, who was behind massive hacks of LinkedIn, MySpace and Tumblr.