Twitter, Post are targets of hackers

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Social-media giant Twitter is among the latest U.S. companies to report they are victims of Internet security attacks, saying that hackers may have gained access to information on 250,000 of its more than 200 million active users. And now, The Washington Post is joining the chorus, revealing the discovery of a sophisticated cyberattack in 2011.

Twitter said in a blog post Friday it detected attempts to gain access to its user data earlier in the week. It shut down one attack moments after it was detected.

But Twitter discovered that the attackers may have stolen user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords belonging to 250,000 users. The company reset the pilfered passwords and sent emails advising the affected users.