Twitter has said that it is considering its legal options after a hacker broke into Google Apps accounts belonging to an employee at the microblogging site and sent confidential documents and emails to a number of blogs and news sites.
Information obtained by the hacker includes meeting notes, partner agreements, financial projections and more personal data such as meal preferences, calendars and phone logs.
TechCrunch is one of the websites that has received the documents from the unnamed hacker and announced its intention to publish figures and information relating to Twitter's business operations earlier this week.
Michael Arrington of TechCrunch defended the decision after an outcry from readers questioning the ethics of such a move by stating that the site is simply reporting news, and proceeded to publish specific financial projections and other business data.
Biz Stone, founder of Twitter, says in a blog post that the company has consulted a lawyer over its options following the attack and is looking at what it means for Twitter, the hacker and those who accept and publish the stolen information.
He also emphasises the fact that no Twitter user accounts were broken into as the attack was confined to employee accounts on Google Apps and that the information accessed by the hacker do not refer to any significant business developments or plans.
"Nevertheless, as they were never meant for public communication, publishing these documents publicly could jeopardise relationships with Twitter's ongoing and potential partners," he adds.
