Data of 400 million Twitter users, including private emails and linked phone numbers, has reportedly gone up for sale on the black market. As it is known, Twitter was bought by Elon Musk, who is known for his Dogecoin adoration. Here are the details…
Data of 400 million people is on sale
Cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock highlighted a “credible threat” via Twitter on Dec. “The private database contains an enormous amount of information, including emails and phone numbers of high-profile users such as AOC, Kevin O’Leary, Vitalik Buterin and more,” Hudson Rock said. He also added:
In the post, the threat actor claims that the data was obtained in early 2022 due to a security flaw in Twitter and that he was trying to blackmail Elon Musk into buying the data otherwise he would face GDPR lawsuits.
In the post, the threat actor claims the data was obtained in early 2022 due to a vulnerability in Twitter, as well as attempting to extort @ElonMusk to buy the data or face GDPR lawsuits.
— Hudson Rock (@RockHudsonRock) December 24, 2022
Hudson Rock cannot fully verify the hacker’s claims, given the number of accounts. But he said “independent verification of the data itself seems legitimate”. Web3 security firm DeFiYield also looked at 1,000 accounts cited by the hacker as an example. Confirmed that the data is “real”. He also reached out to the hacker via Telegram and noted that they are actively waiting for a buyer there.
If Musk pays, the hacker will delete the data
If found true, the breach could be a major concern for crypto Twitter users, especially those who operate anonymously. However, some users stressed that it is hard to believe such a large-scale data breach, as the number of monthly active users is reported to be around 450 million. Currently, the hacker still has a post on Breached advertising this database to buyers.
There is also a specific call to action for Elon Musk to pay $276 million to prevent data being sold and avoid fines from the General Data Protection Regulation agency. If Musk pays, the hacker says he will delete the data and not be sold to anyone else “to protect many celebrities and politicians from phishing, crypto scams, sim-swap, doxxing and other things.”
There are some serious concerns with this.
#1 – Identities of many pseudo accounts will be public, posing risks for them
#2 – With a phone number, it's super easy to find anyone's address and banking information.
#3 – Multiple phishing attempts via cellphone, physical, or email— Haseeb Awan – efani.com (@haseeb) December 25, 2022
How is the Dogecoin price?
The data in question appears to come from Twitter’s “Zero-Day Hack”, which exploited a vulnerability in June 2021 before it was patched in January of this year. The bug essentially allowed hackers to retrieve private information they had compiled in databases to later sell on the dark web. The dangers of leaking such information online include targeted phishing attempts via text and email, sim swap attacks to take over accounts, and disclosure of private information.
Finally, the price of Dogecoin, Musk’s favorite, may have been little affected by this hack. The cryptocurrency is changing hands at $0.075 with a 2% depreciation. It is quite difficult to say for sure whether this decline was affected by the news of the data breach. However, time will tell how the coin will move. Meanwhile, as Cryptokoin.com reported, Musk shared an image of Dogecoin while celebrating Christmas.
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