Data on more than 201 million X users was reportedly leaked last week to a prominent cybercrime forum.
The data, according to a post from a user known as “ThinkingOne,” was allegedly obtained in January and contains a wide range of information, including user IDs, screen names, locations, email addresses, and account creation dates.
ThinkingOne asserted that the data was “almost certainly taken by a disgruntled employee” during the widespread layoffs following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform, although no evidence was presented for the claim.
The data is alleged to be over 400 GB in size and contain details on more than 2.8 billion X users.
ThinkingOne asserted that attempts to alert X to the breach went unanswered.
“I am posting this because I have seen no sign that X or the general public is aware of the largest social media breach ever,” the user said.
It’s unclear what the alleged 2.8 billion number may reflect. X’s user base, according to Musk, is around 600 million people.
ThinkingOne said that instead of leaking the entire data set, they cross-referenced the information with a previous X leak from 2023 and compiled a file that only included records of X users present in both datasets.
In total, the leaked file comes in at 34 GB in size and holds 201,186,753 data entries.
An analysis of data on 100 users in the file by the Safety Detectives’ Cybersecurity Team determined that it matched what was shown on X.
X, which has significantly decreased its communications with journalists since Musk’s takeover, has yet to address the purported leak.
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