Twitter will warn you of state-sponsored attacks

Twitter has started notifying users if it suspects their accounts are under attack from state-sponsored hackers, almost two months to the day after Facebook took the same action.

While Twitter has not yet officially confirmed the move, a number of users have begun receiving the following emails, as first reported by Motherboard:

The notification has created some confusion, however, over the fact it recommends Tor in the notification email, but often blocks users trying to access their Twitter accounts when using the Tor browser.

The fact that the email contains little hard information on what has happened, or what those affected should do next, has also been criticised by recipients of the email, including former Tor project member Runa Sandvik, who tweeted: "Facebook's message includes info about login alerts and two-factor auth, I'd say that's more helpful than Twitter's message."

Twitter declined to comment directly, beyond confirming what was in the email sent to and reposted by affected users and pointing out Facebook and Google have similar notification processes.

Jane McCallion
Deputy Editor

Jane McCallion is ITPro's deputy editor, specializing in cloud computing, cyber security, data centers and enterprise IT infrastructure. Before becoming Deputy Editor, she held the role of Features Editor, managing a pool of freelance and internal writers, while continuing to specialise in enterprise IT infrastructure, and business strategy.

Prior to joining ITPro, Jane was a freelance business journalist writing as both Jane McCallion and Jane Bordenave for titles such as European CEO, World Finance, and Business Excellence Magazine.