Twitter glitch resets thousands of user passwords

SAN FRANCISCO, March 4 (UPI) -- Twitter sent thousands of users emails asking them to reset their passwords owing to a security breach, but has since said that the email was sent by mistake.

Users received these emails Monday which said that their passwords had been rest due to a possible security issue with a third-party website -- a security measure. However, a Twitter spokesperson told CNET that the email had been sent in error.

"Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter," the email sent to users read. "We've reset your password to prevent accessing your account."

"We unintentionally sent some password reset notices tonight due to a system error," the company said in a statement. "We apologize to the affected users for the inconvenience."

Despite being sent by mistake, users will still have to reset their passwords. The micro-blogging site was compromised in November 2012 and had sent out similar emails asking users to reset their passwords. However, in that instance around 250,000 passwords, usernames, data and emails had been stolen.

[CNET] [BBC]