Twitter Says 200 Million Users’ Leaked Data Were NOT Stolen from its Systems

Teejay Boris, Tech Times 12 January 2023, 06:01 am

Twitter says that the alleged stolen data of 200 million users, which hackers reportedly leaked online, were not from its systems.

The social media giant has finally spoken up regarding recent reports claiming millions of user data have been stolen by hackers and leaked online.

(Photo : CONSTANZA HEVIA/AFP via Getty Images)
The Twitter logo is seen on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, on October 28, 2022. - Elon Musk began his first full day leading Twitter, with critics and fans anxious to see how the world's richest man will run one of the most prominent social media platforms.

Twitter Says 200 Million Users' Leaked Data Are Not from its Systems

The Elon Musk-owned social media now says that it has not found any evidence that proves that the alleged stolen user data came from the system of Twitter.

The Twitter Support account disclosed in its tweet that they did a "comprehensive investigation" reports claiming that "Twitter user data was being sold online."

But the investigation of the social media giant "found no evidence that this data originated from the exploitation of our systems, the Musk-led firm notes in its tweet.

The social network adamantly stated that "the 200 million datasets could not be correlated with the previously reported incident or any data originating from the exploitation of Twitter systems.

The Twitter Privacy Center also uploaded a post detailing the incident. It notes that the social media firm takes the protection of the privacy of its users "very seriously." And as such, they immediately investigated the reports claiming hackers stole millions of users' data.

How Did the Email Addresses Leak Online?

Bleeping Computer notes in its report that the social network has yet to explain how millions of email addresses paired with their users have leaked online.

Instead, the post only assumed that the leaked data, which includes email addresses, "is likely a collection of data already publicly available online through different sources."

(Photo : GLENN CHAPMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Employees walk past a lighted Twitter log as they leave the company's headquarters in San Francisco on August 13, 2019. - Twitter on August 13 said that by the end of the year users will be able to follow a small number of interests the same way they follow people.

So it remains to be seen how the email addresses of millions of Twitter users have been publicly made available.

But the Musk-owned company assures its users that the allegedly stolen data does not include any "passwords or information that could lead to passwords being compromised."

It is worth noting, though, that security experts warn that the leaked email addresses could potentially lead to hacking schemes like phishing. It comes as threat actors now have access to their information, such as Twitter usernames, names, and email addresses.

Nevertheless, Twitter encouraged all users to enable two-factor authentication to protect their accounts from hacking. They may use third-party authentication apps to do so.

The tech firm reveals that they are already reaching out to Data Protection Authorities and other regulators in various parts of the world to share this information.