Twitter locks 32 million accounts after password leaks

SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 (UPI) -- Millions of Twitter accounts were locked after their details were posted on the dark web for sale, but Twitter maintains it was not hacked.

Over 32 million purported Twitter passwords were being traded on the dark web, the portion of the Internet that is intentionally hidden from search engines and typically used for illegal purposes, media reports said Wednesday. Twitter identified some of its accounts as in need of extra protection, locking them and requiring a password reset, the New York-based technology website The Verge reported.

Michael Coates, Twitter trust and information security officer, said, "We're confident the information was not obtained from a hack of Twitter's servers."

Twitter said the database could have been created by merging information from other breaches or from password-stealing malware, adding affected users have been notified by email.

The action comes after a number of high-profile hacks of Twitter accounts, including those of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the National Football League and singer Katy Perry, Twitter's most-followed account.