Twitter has urged its users – numbering more than 330 million of them – to change their passwords after a glitch caused some to be stored in readable text on the company’s internal computer system.
The passwords were supposed to be disguised by a process known as "hashing", said a Reuters report. The glitch caused passwords to be written on an internal computer log before the scrambling process was completed, Twitter said in a blog post. "We are very sorry this happened.”
The company said the problem has been resolved and an internal investigation had found no passwords to be stolen or misused by insiders. However, it urged all users to consider changing their passwords as a precaution.
Twitter did not disclose the number of passwords that were affected. According to Reuters, sources familiar with the matter said the number was "substantial" and had been exposed for "several months".
The social media network had apparently discovered the bug a few weeks ago. It has also reported the issue to some regulators. Twitter also advised users to activate its two-factor authentication service to help prevent accounts from being hijacked.