Twitter Urges All Users to Change Passwords

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Twitter LOGO
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Twitter Urges All Users to Change Passwords

Twitter LOGO
Twitter LOGO

Twitter Inc urged its more than 330 million users to change their passwords after a glitch caused some to be stored in readable text on its internal computer system rather than disguised by a process known as “hashing”.

The social network disclosed the issue in a blog post and series of Tweets on Thursday afternoon, saying it had resolved the problem and an internal investigation had found no indication passwords were stolen or misused by insiders. Still, it urged all users to consider changing their passwords, Reuters reported.

“We fixed the bug and have no indication of a breach or misuse by anyone,” Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said in a Tweet. “As a precaution, consider changing your password on all services where you’ve used this password.”

The blog did not say how many passwords were affected. A person familiar with the company’s response said the number was “substantial” and that they were exposed for “several months.”

The disclosure comes as lawmakers and regulators around the world scrutinize the way that companies store and secure consumer data, after a string of security incidents at Equifax Inc, Facebook Inc and Uber Technologies Inc.

The European Union is due later this month to start enforcing a strict new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation, that includes steep fees for violators, according to Reuters.

Twitter discovered the bug a few weeks ago and has reported it to some regulators, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

“We are very sorry this happened,” the Twitter blog said.



Apple Names Insider Sabih Khan as COO

The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
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Apple Names Insider Sabih Khan as COO

The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)

Apple on Tuesday named insider Sabih Khan as its chief operating officer, taking over from Jeff Williams, as part of a long-planned succession.

Khan, who has been with Apple for 30 years and is currently the senior vice president of operations, will take on the new role later this month, the iPhone maker said in a statement.

Before joining Apple's procurement group in 1995, he worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics.

Williams will continue to report to CEO Tim Cook and oversee the company's design team and Apple Watch.

The design team will report directly to Cook after Williams retires late in the year.