Twitter advises users to change passwords after 'bug' found

"When you set a password for your Twitter account, we use technology that masks it so no one at the company can see it. We recently identified a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log. We have fixed the bug, and our investigation shows no indication of breach or misuse by anyone," the company said in a blog post.

The company, however, asked users to change password of their profile  'out of an abundance of caution'.

"We mask passwords through a process called hashing using a function known as bcrypt, which replaces the actual password with a random set of numbers and letters that are stored in Twitter’s system. This allows our systems to validate your account credentials without revealing your password. This is an industry standard," the company said in a statement.

Due to a bug, passwords were written to an internal log before completing the hashing process, the company said.

"We found this error ourselves, removed the passwords, and are implementing plans to prevent this bug from happening again," it said.

Twitter has apologised for the entire incident.

"We are very sorry this happened. We recognize and appreciate the trust you place in us, and are committed to earning that trust every day," the company said.

Tips on account security as posted on Twitter blog post:

> Change your password on Twitter and on any other service where you may have used the same password.

> Use a strong password that you don’t reuse on other websites.

> Enable login verification, also known as two factor authentication. This is the single best action you can take to increase your account security.

> Use a password manager to make sure you’re using strong, unique passwords everywhere.