Twitter warns users of ‘government attackers’

Twitter has sent warnings to a number of users that the company suspects are being targeted by so-called “government-driven attackers.” These would be after personal information of the relevant Twitter users.

The warnings have been sent to a number of users, according to reports on the social network itself appeared. In a message to users, Twitter reports that a small number of accounts have been targeted by attackers seeking personal information, such as IP addresses, email addresses and phone numbers. They would have been sent by governments, but it is not clear exactly which countries are behind it. As a result, little can be said about the motive. Activists concerned with digital privacy and freedom of speech may be the target of the attack, Motherboard suggests.

Twitter recommends warned users to protect their identities, for example by using Tor. Why they are targeted by these so-called ‘state-sponsored actors’ is not clear, but the company behind the social networking site says that an investigation is still ongoing to determine what exactly is going on.

Several countries sometimes attempt to retrieve information from Twitter users, for example in cases where government-critical messages are posted. Several governments of major countries, such as the United States, China and Russia, also accuse each other of hacking attempts.