Twitter resets passwords for some non-compromised accounts

Twitter has been unintentionally sending emails to some of its users informing them that Twitter has reset their passwords, and that they should change it, reports TechCrunch. The report goes on to share that the users unable to access their accounts could attribute this recent occurrence as the reason. Incidentally, it does seem like there were just a considerable chunk to have been affected, considering the number of people tweeting. 

Twitter did not disclose the cause behind the turn of events in its email, which read, “Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter”.

Passwords reset for some

As a matter of caution, the report advises that those having trouble logging onto their Twitter account, but unable to find the email mentioned above to check their spam folder. “We reached out to Twitter for more information on the size of the hack but the company did not provide any info. It did say users who have received emails should reset their passwords (using the password reset link provided), adding that any users who aren’t able to log into their account can go directly to Twitter.com and reset their password in Settings,” the report added further. 

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Twitter grabbed headline recently when it was announced that it is planning to update its mobile apps to introduce filters – much like Instagram – and allow users to quickly click pictures, and share them over the microblogging website.

Though it might seem unnecessary to introduce the Instagram-like feature to a wildly successful social networking website, it may help users share photos more easily without having to download an extra app.

Recently, Instagram received an update that improved the sharing on Twitter. Instagram revealed that it will now translate @mentions for users who have a Twitter username different from their Instagram one. 

If the @mentioned user’s Instagram account is connected to Twitter, her Instagram username will show up in the image caption, while her Twitter username will appear in the tweet. The @mentioned users whose Instagram accounts are not connected to Twitter will have their Instagram username show up in the image caption and the @sign will be omitted from the username when the image is shared to Twitter. As for those @mentions that do not match any Instagram usernames, the @ sign will be carried over to Twitter as they are.

Back in September, reports speculated that Instagram may make its way to handsets running on the Windows Phone operating system. According to a report by The Verge, sources familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Phone plans informed it that the app may be made available for this platform.

Instagram was compatible with iOS devices since its inception. Due to the rapid growth of its popularity, its developers launched the service for Android devices as well. The author of the report by The Verge, Tom Warren, states, “We’re hearing from sources familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Phone plans that an Instagram app will be made available for the platform, despite Facebook’s recent acquisition of the service for $1 billion”.

Instagram 3.0 recently became available for download for Instagram users on iOS and Android platforms. Available on the respective app stores, the focal point for the new, updated version is the browsing experience. The new update brought to the table, as the app’s makers put it across in an official blog post, “a new and unique way” to view their own photos and those of others on a map. Simply put, this means that after the update, users need not go through pages and pages of photos while browsing.