Are you a Twitterer that has recently received this email?
“Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter. We’ve reset your password to prevent others from accessing your account.”
If so, you can disregard the warning, or take the chance to heed it by updating your password. Users have been advised not to panic after the social networking website mistakenly sent the email to millions of users.
The social networking website confirmed that the email was triggered by an error, as announced by spokesperson.
We unintentionally sent some password reset notices tonight due to a system error. We apologize to the affected users for the inconvenience.
According to Re/code, the email was sent out to less than one percent of the total users. While this number may seem to be minimal, it works out to around 6,457,500 users out of a total of an estimated 645,750,000.
If you are a Twitter user, you had a 1/100 chance of receiving this email.
If you received the email and panicked, don"t worry! Several high-profile online security breaches have occurred recently, prompting many users to be extra cautious online. In January, Snapchat’s infamous exploit which revealed the accounts of 4.6 million people showed how vulnerable users are to privacy threats.
Target’s infamous security breach also raised doubts over online security. An estimated 70 million customer’s details were targeted by criminals, perhaps the most devastating security breach yet.
Fortunately, the Twitter email was just a false alarm. Those affected can continue browsing as normal after resetting their password information.
Source: TechCrunch | Images via Graham Cluley, Social Networking and Blogging site by Shuttershock