Hackers have stolen the email addresses of more than 200 million Twitter users. The addresses have already been posted on an online hacking forum. An Israeli cybersecurity researcher said this on Wednesday. Reuters reports.
On December 24, Alon Gale, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity monitoring company Hudson Rock, first revealed the matter on social media. Gale wrote on LinkedIn, “Unfortunately, there have been a lot of hacking incidents, and customer information has been stolen.” Twitter described the hacking incident as one of the most significant data leaks he has seen.
However, Twitter did not comment on Gale’s statement.
The Reuters report said that after Gale published the hacking information, they tried to contact Twitter authorities to inquire about it. However, they did not receive a response. It was not confirmed whether Twitter authorities had taken any action to investigate the hacking incident, and if so, what kind of action.
Reuters could not independently verify whether the information published on the forum is true or whether it is information from Twitter users.
Screenshots of the information released on a hacker forum on Wednesday have been circulating online.
There are no clues yet about the identity or whereabouts of the hacker. It is believed that the hacking incident took place in early 2021, meaning that it was hacked before Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter.
However, this number does not match the number of Twitter accounts that a hacker said in December. The hacker claimed to have collected personal information, including phone numbers and email addresses, of about 400 million Twitter users in a cyberattack.
According to a Reuters report, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic may be swayed by such a large-scale hacking of Twitter. Twitter’s European headquarters are located in Ireland.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission and the US Federal Trade Commission are monitoring the company owned by Elon Musk. They ensure that the company complies with European data protection rules and US regulations.
Reuters tried to contact the two regulators by sending messages on Thursday. There was no immediate response.