Twitter on cyber attack alert after warning of possible state-backed hack for the first time
Twitter has issued a warning about a potential state-sponsored hack for the first time ever.
The social media company sent out email warnings to users feared to have been affected, suggesting that hackers may have been after IP addresses, email addresses or phone numbers, which Twitter only began collecting some months ago.
Cyber attacks have become a growing concern, with several major hacks exposing data from millions of users over the course of 2015, and companies and national governments alike have been ramping up their efforts against the growing threat.
Read more: Do you remember 2015's worst cyber attacks?
It’s not known how many may have been affected by the potential hack against Twitter. According to the firm, a “small group” of accounts may have been affected.
Several major internet companies like Google and Facebook have beefed up their security measures, recently introducing an alert to warn users if they may have been targeted by hacks backed by foreign governments.
Facebook alerts users with the message above, introduced in October, when the company’s head of security Alex Stamos said:
We do this because these types of attacks tend to be more advanced and dangerous than others, and we strongly encourage affected people to take the actions necessary to secure all of their online accounts