Twitter recently revealed a security vulnerability that may have exposed the direct messages of users accessing the platform through Android devices, specifically Android OS versions 8 and 9.
According to Twitter, an attacker could access your private Twitter data, by means of a malicious app installed on your mobile device, by circumnavigating Android system permissions that protect against this.
The new vulnerability was announced by Twitter just weeks after over 100 of the social media platform’s most prominent users, including Elon Musk, Joe Biden and Bill Gates, were hacked as part of a bitcoin scam. At the beginning of the month, Twitter also revealed that it would pay as much as $250 million to the Federal Trade Commission for exploiting users’ personal information to target advertising, instead of the security purposes for which it was intended.
Despite the company stating that there is no evidence of attackers exploiting the Android vulnerability, users who could have been at risk are still being informed. Updates are being made to the app to remove the flaw, and users are encouraged to update their Android app.