Twitter warns users 'governments' may be hacking accounts

Twitter has warned some of its users that their accounts may have been hacked by "state-sponsored actors".View image on Twitter

In an email sent to a number of users the social media company warned that hackers may have been trying to get personal information from them.

"As a precaution, we are alerting you that your Twitter account is one of a small group of accounts that may have been targeted by state-sponsored actors," an email sent to Twitter users said, according to a post by the non-profit organisation Coldhak.

It reads: "we believe that these actors (possibly associated with a government) may have been trying to obtain information such as email addresses, IP addresses, and/or phone numbers".

The warning from Twitter is believed to be the first time the social media website has warned of possible hacking from governments. It follows similar announcements from both Facebook and Google that it will warn users when government's attempt to hack into users' accounts.

Facebook's chief security officer Alex Stamos announced in October that the network will inform users if it believes their accounts have been compromised by a government agency.

In a blog post the Facebook staffer said the company believes it is important to show an "additional warning" if it believes governments have been hacking accounts.

Back in 2012 Google became the first company to start providing security warnings for those who it believed had been the targets of state-sponsored spying.

"We show clear warning signs and put in place extra roadblocks to thwart these bad actors," Google said at the time.