Ireland’s privacy watchdog is demanding answers from Twitter about a data scraping incident that leaked user information of millions of Twitter accounts.
Last August, Twitter acknowledged that hackers took advantage of a system flaw that has since been repaired to access profiles linked to emails and telephone numbers.
Although the social media platform has been quiet about the exact number of accounts that have been compromised, reports citing the hackers indicate that the figure is close to 5.4 million.
The information of millions more users was reportedly exposed in the second leak of Twitter profile accounts that exploited the same flaw, according to website BleepingComputer.
It’s important to mention that the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) already has two open investigations against Twitter that predate Musk’s appointment as CEO. Furthermore, IDP Commissioner Helen Dixon reportedly said that her office will be “probing” further into the issue.
Twitter is yet to comment on the matter.
A word from the hackers
The owner of prolific hacking forum Breached reached out to BleepingComputer to claim responsibility for exploiting the weakness in Twitter’s cybersecurity and dumping user records. They also stated that they obtained 1.4 million Twitter profiles via APIs and suspended accounts. However, they chose only to share the data with a select few.
Many fear that users’ personal data could be used for phishing or other scams. This information could be exploited to discover the identities of private Twitter accounts. We strongly advise being extra wary of suspicious emails and text messages received from Twitter.
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