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

Twitter has discovered attempts by possible state actors to access the phone numbers associated with user accounts. — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter said on Feb 3 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."