Why You Should Be Worried That 200 Million Twitter Emails Have Leaked
Reading Time: 3 minutesAnyone can download the massive data file stolen from Twitter by hackers. It links usernames to email addresses—and that’s a big deal.
A colossal data trove of Twitter user data, which links account names to email addresses, has been released for free by hackers.
Many people aren’t too concerned about their email addresses ending up in the hands of criminals. But here’s why you should be worried about it.
How Did Private Twitter Data End Up Available Online?
On December 23rd 2022, a user on a popular hacking forum announced that they had exploited a vulnerability in the Twitter API to scrape the private data of 400 million users. They provided a sample of the data, which included email addresses, names, usernames, account creation dates, follower counts, and in some cases, phone numbers.
While the information was offered for general sale, the hacker also offered Twitter the opportunity to buy the data exclusively, in order to avoid fines for the breach.
On January 3rd 2023, as reported by Gizmodo, another forum user, StayMad, announced that the haul was actually ‘only’ 200 million user accounts and didn’t include phone numbers—with other users speculating the data originally for sale had been padded, and phone numbers added to the sample in order to drive up price.
StayMad also posted a link where the data could be downloaded for free as a 67GB archive.
Although personal data is limited to your email address, this can still cause you some major headaches.
The Data Is Available to Anyone—Not Just Criminals
Under normal circumstances, data obtained through a data breach is traded on the dark net, and used by criminals to target you for eventual financial benefit. Because the Twitter data is available for free, it can be used by anyone who’s curious, who dislikes what you say on the platform, or who just really likes your profile picture.
Instead of being contained to a relatively small community of ne’er-do-wells, your email address can be used and misused by anyone with an internet connection, and the patience to sit through the day-long download.
Your Email Address Makes Harassment Easier
You may post your life onto Twitter and other platforms, but there are details you might want to keep off the site, and some people you really don’t want to interact with or hear from. We’ve already demonstrated how it’s easy to find someone’s username across multiple platforms, but on most platforms, you can block an individual, or in the worst case scenario, leave it altogether. Your email address ties your life together, and changing it is a big deal; if you’ve ever blocked someone on Twitter, they can now just email you instead.
Your Email Security Is Compromised
The chances are, if you search for your email address on Google, it won’t come up. This means that hackers and criminals are unlikely to know it, and the accounts with which you use this email address are probably not being targeted. Now that your email address is known to the world, it can be attacked. Criminals can use details from your Twitter feed to either improve the odds of cracking your password, or tailor spearphishing attacks to have a greater chance of success.
You’re More Vulnerable to Doxxing
If you have an anonymous Twitter account, or even if you just try to keep parts of your life private, your email address can provide a valuable clue as to your true identity. It may seem like a small detail, but it’s likely a detail that attackers didn’t have before. Maybe it contains your full name or your location. It could be tied to your school or the company where you work. These snippets of information can be added together to until there’s enough to pinpoint you as an individual, i.e. doxxing.
The Twitter Data Breach Is More Dangerous Than It Seems
While other recent data breaches have exposed more information, the Twitter data leak offers attackers and amateurs an opportunity to link your email address to the intimate details of your life. To avoid this happening to you in the future, use email aliasing when you open an account on any platform or service.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/should-worry-200-million-twitter-emails-leaked/
Ref: makeuseof
MediaDownloader.net -> Free Online Video Downloader, Download Any Video From YouTube, VK, Vimeo, Twitter, Twitch, Tumblr, Tiktok, Telegram, TED, Streamable, Soundcloud, Snapchat, Share, Rumble, Reddit, PuhuTV, Pinterest, Periscope, Ok.ru, MxTakatak, Mixcloud, Mashable, LinkedIn, Likee, Kwai, Izlesene, Instagram, Imgur, IMDB, Ifunny, Gaana, Flickr, Febspot, Facebook, ESPN, Douyin, Dailymotion, Buzzfeed, BluTV, Blogger, Bitchute, Bilibili, Bandcamp, Akıllı, 9GAG