One of the biggest user data leaks in the world? Cybercrime firm Hudson Rock revealed that 400 million personal data of Twitter users had recently been put up for sale on the black market. In addition to Vitalik Buterin and Donald Trump, we find in particular the French Ministry of Justice among the victims.
Leaked Twitter data
This information was brought to us by Hudson Rock firm, specializing in cybercrime. According to their information, more than 400 million personal data of Twitter users are currently for sale on the dark web black market.
BREAKING: Hudson Rock discovered a credible threat actor is selling 400,000,000 Twitter users data.
The private database contains devastating amounts of information including emails and phone numbers of high profile users such as AOC, Kevin O’Leary, Vitalik Buterin & more (1/2). pic.twitter.com/wQU5LLQeE1
— Hudson Rock (@RockHudsonRock) December 24, 2022
The company identifies this data leak as a “credible threat”. The sensitive database held by this hacker includes in particular email addresses and phone numbers used for the creation of accounts on the social network.
Among the 400 million potential victims, there are obviously influential personalities. Indeed, the pirate’s sale announcement is accompanied by a sample of 1000 lines given as an example. There we find in particular Vitalik Buterinthe prominent co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), donald trump and even the French ministry of justice.
As Hudson Rock explains in his press release, the hacker says he recovered this information at the start of 2022, thanks to a flaw identified in the Twitter application. However, the intelligence company does not feel able to confirm the veracity of each line of this database.
On the other hand, the DeFiYield company looked at the 1000 lines shared as an example by the hacker and claimed that this sample corresponded well to the actual data. That said, it’s surprising that a data leak wasn’t spotted sooner by Twitter teams and by Elon Musk when he took over the company, especially given the number of active users on the social network amounts to 450 million per month.
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Elon Musk arrested by hacker
If this data leak is proven, it could constitute a real concern for players in the crypto ecosystem evolving anonymously – or pseudonymly – on Twitter, since their identity could be revealed. The threat is even greater for scammers, who could face legal action for their misdeeds.
Obviously, the threat weighs above all on ordinary users. These email addresses could be used by malicious actors to carry out phishing. Indeed, the email is still a very used vector today to perpetuate scams allowing to steal cryptos or NFTs.
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In addition to selling the data file, the hacker arrested Elon Musk. He offers to pay him 276 million dollars in order to avoid the sale of the data as well as a fine from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) agency.
As a reminder, in 2018, the CNIL had punished the company Uber for a leak of sensitive data concerning 57 million customers, including 1.4 million in France. The fine, which amounted to 400,000 euros for the French subsidiary, had been deemed too low by some users concerned.
Let’s take this opportunity to make an always useful reminder: it is important exercise the utmost caution and vigilance when you move in the world of Web3. Make sure that your various accounts are secured via the two-factor authentication system, that your passwords are changed regularly, and finally that your cryptocurrencies are stored securely.
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Journalist for Cryptoast, I strive to dissect every detail of the exciting world of cryptocurrencies and make it accessible and understandable to as many people as possible.
Lilian Aliaga
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