Nearly 200 million X (formerly Twitter) users have had their data exposed in a recent leak, according to a report by the Cyberpress Research Team.
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The Cyberpress Research Team discovered the leak, which is believed to be one of the largest exposures of user data on the platform in recent times.
The leaked database, a staggering 9.4 GB in size, reportedly contains a wide range of personal information, including email addresses, names, and Twitter account details, sourced from a Twitter (X) database scrape.
The leaked database was discovered on a well-known hacking forum and is titled “9.4GB Twitter Leaked Database—The Exposure of Over 200 Million Records Containing Email Addresses, Names, and Twitter Account Details.”
Analysis by the Cyberpress Research Team confirms the leak’s legitimacy and the accuracy of the email addresses for a subset of the listed Twitter (X) profiles.
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The Cyberpress Research Team, in a statement on Monday, said the data is divided into ten files, each 1 GB in size.
“To release this massive Twitter database exclusively, the user named as “michupa” created a new account on the data leak forum on July 7, 2024,” the Cyberpress Research Team said.
“We have found a total of 10 files, each containing a substantial amount of data, specifically 1 GB. These files are identified by unique names of the following.”
The unique names include: Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.001, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.002, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.003, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.004, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.005, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.006, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.007, Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.008, and Twitter_Full_b1nd.net.7z.009.
“Due to its public availability, we can observe that forum users are already accessing the files several times that contain the following data. Email addresses, Names, Twitter account details,” it added.
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Email addresses associated with Twitter accounts, according to Cyberpress Research Team, can be used for phishing, spamming, or other malicious activities.
“With the vast amount of personal information available, malicious actors can exploit this data to compromise further accounts and systems linked to the affected email addresses,”
The full names of X (Twitter) users and information about Twitter accounts, including usernames, profile information, and other details, can be used to identify individuals and potentially link them to other online profiles.
“The leaked database was obtained from a recent Twitter data breach and has been verified by Cyber Press Team to ensure the accuracy of the data. The breach is believed to have occurred most recently, although the exact date is not specified. The leaked data includes a wide range of information, making it a significant concern for privacy and security.”
Although the Cyber Press Team said it has verified the accuracy of the email addresses for several of the listed Twitter profiles, it noted that the complete data set has not yet been confirmed.
“Whether or not your information is included in this data set is contingent upon whether your email address was compromised in previous data breaches.
“It is still unclear how the hackers gained access, but the Cyber Press team has contacted Twitter to inform them of the data leak. We are now waiting for a response. We will update this article as soon as we receive a response from X.”
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It, however, urges users to change passwords, enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on Twitter accounts, remain vigilant of suspicious emails or messages, monitor accounts for any unusual activity and report any incidents to Twitter support.
It also urges organisations to review and strengthen data protection measures, conduct regular security audits, and educate employees about phishing and social engineering risks.
The post Nearly 200 million X users’ data exposed in recent peak – report appeared first on Guardian Nigeria News.
