I subscribe to an Australian government website called ‘Stay Smart Online’. The site sends me notifications of current security alerts, and this is the latest:
‘As a precaution, Twitter is urging more than 330 million users to change their password after a glitch left log-in details exposed in the company’s internal computer system.
When you set a password for your account, Twitter uses technology that masks it, so no one can see your password.
The company recently identified a bug that stored unmasked passwords in an internal log. Twitter found this error itself, removed the passwords and is now looking at how it can prevent this from happening again.
Twitter has advised it has fixed the bug, and has no reason to believe the passwords left Twitter’s systems or were misused by anyone.’
Despite these assurances, however, you really should change your Twitter password now. More importantly, you should also change your password on any other sites where you used the same password.
I know you’re not supposed to ‘re-use’ passwords, but I’m just as guilty as everyone else because my memory is simply incapable of storing hundreds of passwords. I have special passwords for my banking accounts, or accounts that deal with money, that don’t get shared, but for the main social media accounts that I log in and out of multiple times a day, well….:(
Anyway, I’ve just gone through and changed mine, so I’m a good girl now. π Are you?
Please don’t ignore these warnings off as you never know when they’ll come back and bite you on the bum.
Meeks
May 8th, 2018 at 9:05 pm
[…] https://acflory.wordpress.com/2018/05/04/twitter-users-change-your-password-now/ ββAs a precaution, Twitter is urging more than 330 million users to change their password after a glitch left log-in details exposed in the companyβs internal computer system.β Did this with the warning I saw from twitter today. […]
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May 9th, 2018 at 8:49 am
-hugs-
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May 6th, 2018 at 9:29 pm
I got the warning from Twitter. Thanks very much Twitter: you **** up your security and now we have to put right every other website where we use the same password. Social media companies’ ineptness never fails to stagger me.
To be fair they did warn me when someone tried to open an account using the Alien Noise email. (Those people don’t realise what happens when they mess with Alien Noise…)
For what it’s worth, if I were giving anyone security advice it would be pay the extra to hide your details when registering a domain name. I nearly inherited Β£4 million pounds from a Chinese bank when I decided to leave my details public on the domain registry.
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May 6th, 2018 at 10:14 pm
‘..if I were giving anyone security advice it would be pay the extra to hide your details when registering a domain name.’
I had no idea those details were in the public domain and had to pay to get then hidden just recently. π¦
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May 6th, 2018 at 7:08 pm
what a great service from the Aussie govmnt. I’m astounded, impressed and rather envious! I had a twitter prompt and an email from them, so had already done it. but – thanks regardless !
#smugfactor π
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May 6th, 2018 at 9:06 pm
lol – Yes! I received an email from Twitter as well…/today/. -rolls eyes-
As for that website, I don’t think it’s restricted to Aussies. If you want to register they’ll send you alerts ahead of the game. Of course, you might also get some stuff that only applies here, but the local stuff you could ignore. π
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May 6th, 2018 at 9:08 pm
cool. I shall hunt it down. thanks
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May 6th, 2018 at 9:15 pm
nps. π
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May 5th, 2018 at 5:01 am
Thanks for the update, Andrea. Ugh. What a pain. I’m heading over now to make the change.
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:08 am
Pain is the word. I’m sticking with Twitter, but only because I kind of enjoy it. My faith in these huge tech corporations is at absolute zero. π¦
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May 5th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Mine is zero too. But I do love technology!
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May 5th, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Same. So unfair it’s been misused so badly. π¦
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May 6th, 2018 at 1:40 am
Human’s seem to find a way to wreck everything. What’s up with that?
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May 6th, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Angel and demon, we’re made of two extremes. π¦
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May 5th, 2018 at 2:12 am
Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:09 am
Thank you. π
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May 5th, 2018 at 2:06 am
Reblogged this on Plaisted Publishing House and commented:
Change your Twitter Password NOW
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:10 am
Thank you. π
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May 5th, 2018 at 2:00 am
Reblogged this on When Angels Fly and commented:
Good to know this! Thanks!
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:10 am
Happy to be of help. π
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May 5th, 2018 at 12:15 am
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:10 am
Thanks Chris. π
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May 5th, 2018 at 3:19 pm
Welcome, Meeks π
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May 4th, 2018 at 9:54 pm
Changed. Thanks for the heads up!
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:12 am
Welcome, Elizabeth. π
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May 4th, 2018 at 7:04 pm
I refuse!!! I still have my 5 character Amazon password from 1999 π They used to try to make me change it, but after some stern email exchanges they gave up and left me alone.
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:14 am
PInky!!!!!!!!! I really, really hope you’re pulling my leg. ?!? Not only is 5 characters a breeze to crack but you’ve now told the world that you have an easy peasey one AND it’s linked to your Amazon account which is linked to your bank account which is linked to your MONEY!
Please, seriously, this has nothing to do with /them/ and everything to do with protecting yourself. π¦
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May 5th, 2018 at 7:16 pm
… not pulling your leg. I don’t like change. How would anyone know information on my Amazon account?
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May 6th, 2018 at 2:39 pm
-facepalm- Amazon hasn’t been hacked, as far as we know, but that doesn’t mean it /can’t/ be hacked. More importantly, if you re-use the same weak password in more than one place, you increase the chances of it being hacked enormously. And once it’s hacked in one place, ‘they’ will try it in all sorts of other places to see if they get lucky.
As for the whole online security thing, no such beast. Everything you do online is a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is you. Being a needle in a haystack is no longer a defence. π¦
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May 6th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
You can’t make me π
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May 6th, 2018 at 9:01 pm
-sigh- No, I can’t, but you’re forcing me to ‘pray’ for your safety. π¦
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May 6th, 2018 at 9:39 pm
LOL π
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May 6th, 2018 at 10:12 pm
:p
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May 4th, 2018 at 2:03 pm
I can’t even remember my Twitter password… *gulps
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:15 am
lmao – well, so long as you haven’t recycled it on other accounts, especially important ones, it probably won’t matter. π
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May 4th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
I changed my password on Twitter as soon as I saw the warning, and I revoked access to most of the apps I had previously allowed (I didnβt remember doing it for half of them). βTis a new, complicated world, thatβs for sure.
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May 5th, 2018 at 11:17 am
Yeah, I forgot to mention revoking access. Thanks Carrie. I revoked mine too. I had 1 that I knew of and 3 that had me scratching my head.
I just hope security is AND privacy issues are fixed before something truly disastrous happens. Not holding my breath though.
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May 7th, 2018 at 5:40 am
You beat me to the “revoking” part of the equation. I’m down to the essentials and with a new password!
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May 7th, 2018 at 8:42 am
Yes! Ladies, we have to take back our lives. π
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