Twitter says state-backed actors may have accessed users' phone numbers

[octoberlib]

Link to tweet

Twitter says state-backed actors may have accessed users' phone numbers

Twitter said it had identified a “high volume of requests” to use the feature coming from IP addresses in Iran, Israel and Malaysia.





SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter said on Monday that it had discovered attempts by possible state actors to access the phone numbers associated with user accounts, after a security researcher unearthed a flaw in the company’s “contacts upload” feature.

In a statement published on its privacy blog, Twitter said it had identified a “high volume of requests” to use the feature coming from IP addresses in Iran, Israel and Malaysia. It said, without elaborating, that “some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors.”

A company spokeswoman declined to say how many user phone numbers had been exposed, saying Twitter was unable to identify all of the accounts that may have been impacted.

She said Twitter suspected a possible connection to state-backed actors because the attackers in Iran appeared to have had unrestricted access to Twitter, even though the network is banned there.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-security/twitter-says-state-backed-actors-may-have-accessed-users-phone-numbers-idUSKBN1ZY07G

[2naSalit]

1. That's what I was anticipating...

and I wonder how much that impacted last night's debacle in Iowa.

[octoberlib]

4. Iran should be on our side, shouldn't they? I don't know about Malaysia.

It's pathetic I'm even thinking like that. It shouldn't be happening.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. This is getting more interesting

by the minute. Would make sense knowing a bit about the Internet Service as well as the Phone systems in Iowa.

[Me.]

3. Let's Just Face It

The situation is fatally flawed and the results can't be trusted. I am willing to bet that any campaign that doesn't like the results will be calling foul.

[sdfernando]

5. Welp...here we go again!

I don't have a Twitter account....I don't have a Facebook account...no social media presence. You can survive without these things (and I work in IT, which is why I don't have those things).

[2naSalit]

6. Same here.

I limit my online presence, have no social media other than Du and my email and phone which I only do actual phone calls and text.

[spanone]

7. can you do us a favor, though?

[Brainfodder]

8. Must be twitter app use from phone, never used that, whew!

Never give your phone # out to a corporation that doesn't NEED it.

Meanwhile I still get 40x more scam calls then actual ones.

[FakeNoose]

9. I'm not on Twitter

... and I am on Facebook but I've given FB very limited personal information. The Facebook Messenger needs to be denied access to your phone, and I refuse to even download their Messenger ap for that reason.

Beware of any website or internet entity who asks for your phone number. *Any* of them are capable of being hacked and turning over your private info to bad people.