Hackers release personal info of millions of Twitter users after pilfering data last year

Hackers have published the personal information of 5.4 million Twitter users, including high-profile celebrities and politicians, to an online forum after stealing the data in December 2021.

Twitter said the vulnerability that allowed the hackers to pilfer the information was fixed in January 2022, according to the outlet, The Daily Dot on Tuesday.

The breach included personal phone numbers and email addresses, including those of high-profile celebrities and politicians.

Before the information was published on a hacking forum for free, a hacker tried to sell the data on the same forum for $30,000 in July. 

Cybersecurity expert Chad Loder first broke the news about the leak on Twitter.

"Any Twitter account with 'Let others find you by your phone' enabled in Discoverability settings is affected. All accounts for the entire country code of France (+33) are listed in the dataset with their mobile numbers," he wrote.

The technology outlet, The Bleeping Computer, reported that the data dump affects people in Europe, Israel and the United States. 

The leak comes months after former Twitter security chief Peiter Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that the social media platform's efforts to prevent hacking has "extreme, egregious deficiencies."