Twitter's security breach allows unauthorized access to accounts

Delhi : Last month, Twitter users claimed that a "Twitter Circle" issue revealed their posts to anyone outside the group. Nearly a month later, the social media platform apparently acknowledged that the disclosure of personal tweets was caused by "a security incident that occurred earlier this year."

According to an email obtained by The Guardian, Twitter informed impacted users that tweets meant for "close friends" were delayed owing to "a security incident" that had been "immediately fixed." It also expressed regret to those users.

"Twitter is committed to protecting the privacy of the people who use our service, and we understand the risks that an incident like this can introduce, and we deeply regret this happened," the firm was cited as saying.

All followers see private tweets

Last month, it was revealed that some tweets that were intended for people in the "Twitter Circle" appeared for others outside the group. It meant that if you shared material on Twitter that was intended just for a certain audience, it was visible to everyone. Twitter attributed this problem to a bug.

Twitter Circle: What is it?

Twitter Circle, which was launched last year, is the microblogging service's response to Instagram's 'Closed Friends' story feature. When a user selects this option, tweets are shared with a "smaller crowd," or only the followers they have chosen. No one else will be able to view them or even learn that a false narrative exists.

In this instance, only individuals chosen for the "Close Friends" group are able to engage with or comment to the post.

A green colour circle indicates that a tweet or Instagram story is a "private post," signifying its exclusivity. In the instance of Twitter, the green colour circle did not appear, and people who wrote the 'private tweet' were unaware that their private tweets were public.