Twitter said that it had no further information it could provide “at this time”.
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Twitter’s notice is the latest amid concern about cyber attacks by state-sponsored organizations.
Microblogging site Twitter is warning certain users via email that they may be potential targets of “state-sponsored” hackers, who may steal telephone numbers, email IDs, and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
Emails saying “state-sponsored” hackers might be attempting to breach the users’ phone numbers, email addresses and IP addresses.
Among the alerted users were journalists, security researchers and programmers.
PC Magazine advised that though Twitter does not offer any suggestions for protecting user account, it is always good to take proactive steps like enabling login verification, requiring personal information to reset password and removing location from tweets. The company said that there is now no evidence that the perpetrators have obtained account information, but they are actively investigating this matter.
Coldhak, a Canadian non-profit organisation, said it had received a warning from Twitter. A Google warning sent out in June 2012 read, “You might ask how we know this activity is state-sponsored”.
State-sponsored cyber attacks have been in the limelight for quite a while now, with the most prominent case being that of an alleged North Korean government backed group hacking into Sony pictures in 2014. This is the first time that the company has deployed or mentioned its government-sponsored attack warning system.
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In October of this year, Facebook revealed its plans to notify users suspected of being victim to such attacks and guide them towards increasing the security of their accounts. Facebook in November took similar action when it alerted individuals from the U.S. State Department about targeted attacks of their accounts, the New York Times reported.
