Twitter has been hit with one of the largest data breaches in history, with the email addresses of more than 200 million users being leaked online.
The number of affected users is unclear, with some estimates putting the figure at 235 million. The data breach is believed to have occurred in late 2021, and the information is now being sold on hacker websites.
The hackers are reportedly targeting popular users, accounts related to cryptocurrency, and accounts with attractive usernames that can be monetized. The leak is expected to increase account hacking and phishing scams, as well as the exposure of personal information. Twitter has yet to officially comment on the breach.
The data leak was discovered by Israeli cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, which found that an attacker was selling the data of 400 million Twitter users. The private database includes detailed information such as high-profile Twitter users’ email addresses and phone numbers. The hackers are reportedly selling email address information for $2. The data was published as a 59 GB archive comprising six text files containing the email address, name, alias, number of followers, and account creation date for each Twitter user.
Twitter has yet to release an official statement on the data breach. The social media giant has faced criticism for handling user data in the past. It remains to be seen how the company will address this latest breach and protect the personal data of its users.
