A number of Twitter users received password reset request emails after being temporarily locked out of their accounts. Those affected were not immediately notified as to the exact reason for the password reset request.
"Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter," the email sent to users said. "We've reset your password to prevent accessing your account."
However, the problem wasn't the result of a security breach. Twitter spokesperson said that the mass reset was accidentally triggered by the company itself.
"We unintentionally sent some password reset notices tonight due to a system error," a the Twitter spokesperson. "We apologize to the affected users for the inconvenience."
Although the problem only affects less than a percent of its users, many of these users took to Twitter for hours on Monday, complaining about the password reset requests and asking whether or not the service was hacked.
Twitter is no stranger to security scares. Last year, the company disclosed that its systems had been attacked by an unidentified group of hackers, potentially exposing 250,000 usernames, email addresses and other sensitive information.
