Users of iPhone or iPad applications for the well-known micro-blogging and social networking site Tumblr are being encouraged to change their passwords after the company discovered a security flaw in the older versions of the app that could result in compromised password information.

In a blog post published by the Tumblr staff on Tuesday, Derek Gottfrid, the company’s vice president of product, assured users that the security oversight was not an indication of Tumblr being reckless with customer privacy, but a complete accident. Regardless, Gottfrid urged users to immediately download an app update, which supposedly rectifies the issue, and encouraged readers to change their passwords, both on Tumblr and on other sites where similar or identical passcodes may have been used. Gottfrid cautioned that, in general, it is wise to not use the same password for multiple accounts, as situations and security breaches like this one are a fact of life.

According to a brief footnote on Gottfrid’s blogpost, the nature of the security flaw was that older versions of the Tumblr iOS app made it possible for hackers or other unsavory online presences to “sniff” passwords while they were “in transit” across a network. In other words, certain versions of the mobile app transmitted password data in plain text rather than in encrypted format, in turn allowing malicious outsiders using the same Wi-Fi network to freely intercept a password somewhere between the time that a user entered it and the time the system authorized the login. In essence, if you were using a private wireless network in your home, you’re probably fine; if you were hooking up to the Wi-Fi network in a public place, however–like a city park–or to a free Wi-Fi service in a coffee house, then your password may have been exposed.

The latest incarnation of the Tumblr app–version 3.4.1–supposedly makes such “sniffing” or interception impossible, an “important security update” that doubles as damage control for Tumblr’s privacy and security image.

“Please know that we take your security very seriously and are tremendously sorry for this lapse and inconvenience,” Gottfrid wrote in his blogpost.

Regardless of Gottfrid’s assurance that the security flaw was an honest mistake, Tumblr isn’t getting a free pass from the media. In an article titled “Tumblr’s Security Flaw and the Inevitable Downfall of Your Password,” New Yorker journalist Matt Buchanan called the Tumblr blunder a “very basic, and very stupid, mistake,” citing secure data transmission as one of the most vital components to any app. However, Buchanan also called the password a flawed mechanism in the first place, and reiterated Gottfrid’s point that using different passwords–as well as taking advantage of secure password-management software like 1Password or LastPass–can go a long way in maintaining your internet privacy and safety.