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A massive trove of X user data has allegedly leaked online, raising fresh concerns about privacy on Elon Musk's social platform
According to cybersecurity researchers at SafetyDetectives, a hacker known as ThinkingOne has posted a 34GB file containing data on over 201 million accounts.
This includes metadata such as account creation dates, display names, tweet counts, and, crucially, the email addresses tied to those accounts.
SafetyDetectives claims to have verified a sample of the leaked data, confirming its authenticity.
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However, X has yet to comment on or even acknowledge the breach
Where exactly this data originated remains unclear.
But ThinkingOne insists the situation is far worse than it seems, alleging that an earlier, larger leak — comprising a staggering 2.8 billion accounts — occurred without public notice.
If true, this would make it one of the largest social media data leaks in history.
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That said, not all of these accounts necessarily belong to real users
X reportedly has around 400 million active users, meaning a significant portion of the exposed accounts may belong to bots or deactivated profiles.
But that doesn't make the situation any less alarming. Even without passwords, this kind of data can be a goldmine for cybercriminals.
By cross-referencing this leak with a 2023 breach, ThinkingOne has compiled a dataset of 201 million accounts with linked email addresses.
This opens the door to targeted phishing attacks and social engineering scams.
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