A Twitter data hack reportedly exposes millions of users' email addresses to hackers. And now, security experts are saying that the stolen information has been leaked online for free.
So anyone who has access to these hacker forums could now check out the stolen email addresses from the Elon Musk-owned social network.
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 2: The Twitter logo is posted on the exterior of Twitter headquarters on October 28, 2022 in San Francisco, California. Elon Musk closed the deal to purchase social media platform Twitter for $44 billion and has already fired several top executives.
Twitter Data Hack: Millions of Email Addresses Reportedly Leaked Online
As per the latest report by BBC, roughly 200 million Twitter users' email addresses have reportedly leaked on a hacker forum.
However, the social media giant has yet to confirm or deny if such a hacking incident did take place. Despite that, security experts confirm that the leaked data belongs to millions of Twitter users.
Cybersecurity expert Alon Gal, who discovered the breach, says that the hacking includes 200 million email addresses. And as such, he says that the incident could potentially lead to hacking by targeting these users via phishing.
CNN reports that the email addresses were paired with names, usernames, followers, and date of account creation. Given that, hackers could easily carry out phishing attacks as it includes the identities of Twitter users.
According to a report by Bleeping Computer, the leaked data are accurate for many users after the online news outlet has downloaded its contents.
The leaked data on the hacker forum is in a RAR archive, which spans up to 59 GB. The cybersecurity website notes that it contains six text files, which list the alleged stolen Twitter data.
Twitter API Security Flaw
As per CNN's report, the leaked data could likely come from hacking incidents back in 2021, wherein Twitter had a security bug in its systems.
Bleeping Computer notes in its story that the social media giant has already fixed the issue in January 2022. However, even if Twitter has already patched the flaw, hackers still leaked stolen data back in July, initially sold for $30,000.
(Photo : CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
In this illustration photo taken on July 18, 2022 Elon Musk's reply Tweet to Parag Agrawal, the CEO of Twitter, showing a poop emoji is displayed on the screen of a smartphone with Musk Twitter page in the background in Los Angeles.
Last November 27, the stolen data of 5.4 million users were given away for free. On top of that, another set of stolen information from around 17 million users reportedly privately circulated in the same month.
And in December, a hacker offered Twitter data, allegedly containing private and public information for roughly 400 million users, for $200,000.
And this time, the latest leak reportedly includes 200 million users' email addresses. While other previous leaks asked for staggering amounts of money, the most recent one posted it online free of charge.
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