Users of microblogging website Twitter were warned of a new security bug that could redirect a browser to pornographic websites.
The vulnerability has affected thousands of Twitter profiles including the wife of the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown.
Reader’s of Sarah Brown’s Twitter profile have been redirected to a Japanese porm site.
According to security company Sophos, the bug uses a piece of Javascript code, called OnMouseOver, to redirect a user to another site, even if the user hasn’t clicked on the link.
While the flaw is not dangerous at present, Sophos advised Twitter users to access the site via third party tools until the error code has been blocked.
“Hopefully Twitter will shut down this loophole as soon as possible – disallowing users to post the onMouseOver JavaScript code, and protecting users whose browsing may be at risk,” said Sophos’s security expert Graham Cluley.
Twitter has yet to respond to the attack on its website.