Technology
Twitter hacked: Contact details of 5.4 million accounts leaked
According to 9To5Mac, Twitter was hacked due to a security flaw, and the contact information of a total of 5.4 million accounts was leaked. Twitter officials have confirmed the existence of the security flaw.
The 5.4 million leaked accounts, including phone numbers and email information associated with Twitter IDs, have been sold on a hacking forum for $30,000, the report said.
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Restore Privacy reports that the breach likely stemmed from a security flaw discovered in January that allowed attackers to obtain phone numbers, and email addresses associated with Twitter accounts, even if users had hidden those fields in their privacy settings can be obtained.
The hacker forum owner verified the authenticity of the attack, and Restore Privacy also checked the data, confirming that it corresponds to Twitter users. When Restore Privacy contacted the seller, they were told the price of the database was $30,000.
The attackers likely obtained an existing database of phone numbers and email addresses obtained through breaches of other services, and then used those details to search for the corresponding Twitter IDs, the report said. At present, there is no way to check whether you are in the leaked account.