Twitter talks to lawyers over hack attack


16 Jul 2009

Following a hack attack and the subsequent emailing of 310 of its private documents to technology news site TechCrunch by the hacker, Twitter has decided to seek legal counsel.

The hacking into and stealing of both personal and corporate documents is “a personal attack followed by the theft of private company documents”, said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on the firm’s blog.

Before reassuring users that “the stolen documents, which were downloaded and offered to various blogs and publications, are not Twitter user accounts, nor were any user accounts compromised”, Stone went on to say that there would be legal ramifications for those sharing and publishing this stolen property.

“We are in touch with our legal counsel about what this theft means for Twitter, the hacker, and anyone who accepts and subsequently shares or publishes these stolen documents.

“We’re not sure yet exactly what the implications are for folks who choose to get involved at this point, but when we learn more and are able to share more, we will,” he added.

Stone said that as these documents were not intended for public communication, their unveiling might damage Twitter’s business relationships and “ongoing and potential partners”.

This may indicate that Twitter is in touch with TechCrunch, the news site that brought these stolen documents to light by telling its readers that it has all 310 and was intending to publish some of them, beginning with one on a proposed reality TV show.

By Marie Boran