This morning, a large number of Twitter users received an email from the social network, claiming their passwords were reset. The Twitter team believed some accounts had been compromised, and took immediate steps to block potential hackers. But this afternoon, the company's apologizing for maybe going a little overboard.
According to a post on the Twitter status Tumblr, Twitter reset the passwords of a "large number" of accounts that were not even compromised.
"We’re committed to keeping Twitter a safe and open community," reads the post. "As part of that commitment, in instances when we believe an account may have been compromised, we reset the password and send an email letting the account owner know this has happened along with information about creating a new password. This is a routine part of our processes to protect our users."
"In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised."
Earlier today, it seems as though a multitude of Twitter accounts were, unfortunately, hacked. While the Twitter-verse spent a couple hours freaking out, initial assumptions about how widespread the issue was may have been overstated.
Regardless, having your Twitter password reset isn't that big of a deal. In fact, like any online account, it's a good idea to change out those access phrases every now and then.
Twitter also posted a link to some reminders on keeping your account safe and secure.
Follow this article's author, Matt Clark on Twitter.
