An Islamist hacker says he gained access to "the entire database of users on Twitter" and has already leaked the login details of more then 15,000 accounts online.
A hacker under the name Mauritania Attacker, who claims to be from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a country in West Africa — shared details on Tuesday about the leak via file-sharing site Zippyshare, according to a GigaOm report. The account information compromised includes every account's Twitter name, ID and authentication tokens associated with third-party apps that have access to the account (for example, Instagram or HootSuite).
Twitter has not yet responded to a request for comment, but the news comes after Twitter sent an email late Monday to verified users urging them to use two-step authentication to keep accounts secure.
"With a highly visible account like yours, it's a good idea to be extra careful," the email read. "Login verification is a simple way to add more protection to your account."
Active Twitter users should immediately revoke all third-party apps tied to their account. To do so, visit Twitter's application page and click "revoke access" for each app listed. You can then go through the connection process again for the apps you still want to use.
Cleaning house like this is a good practice in general — you may be surprised about how many third-party providers you granted access to your account since signing up.
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