If you use an Android phone and have the Twitter app installed, you must head to the Google Play Store and update it. Right now. The popular social network has confirmed that they have patched a bug which allowed hackers to see the account information that millions of users may not have made public, and also take charge of your account to send tweets and direct messages. Unfortunately, Twitter is clueless about which accounts have been compromised and whether any data was accessed by hackers or not.
“We recently fixed a vulnerability within Twitter for Android that could allow a bad actor to see nonpublic account information or to control your account (i.e., send Tweets or Direct Messages). Prior to the fix, through a complicated process involving the insertion of malicious code into restricted storage areas of the Twitter app, it may have been possible for a bad actor to access information (e.g., Direct Messages, protected Tweets, location information) from the app,” says Twitter in a post communicating the discovery of the vulnerability.
In an email sent to yours truly, Twitter’s communication seemed unsure about what may have happened, if at all. “We recently fixed an issue that could have compromised your account. Although we don’t have evidence that this was exploited, we can’t completely confirm so we are letting you know,” reads the email sent over the weekend. So, Twitter for Android may have had a massive vulnerability that allowed hackers to see the personal data of millions of users, but they do not know which accounts were targeted by hackers and whether any data was accessed.
Twitter says that the vulnerability has been patched in the latest version that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. At this time, the Twitter app for the Apple iPhones does not exhibit signs of any similar vulnerabilities, Twitter suggests. “We’re sorry this happened and will keep working to keep your information secure on Twitter,” is all Twitter has to say.
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