Data of 1.3 million Clubhouse users leaked, company denies security breach

It looks like big tech companies just can't catch a break from data leaks in 2021. In the last one week alone, we saw data of one billion users of Facebook and LinkedIn surfaced on hacker forums and now, another emerging social media firm Clubhouse has reportedly suffered a major data breach.

Bad actors have scraped through Clubhouse's user data records of 1.3 million individuals and posted on the darknet. The leaked personal information includes user ID, name, photo URL, username, Twitter handle ID, Instagram handle ID, number of followers, number of people followed by the user, account creation date, and invited by user profile name, reported Cyber News

 It should be noted that the leaked user information linked to Facebook or LinkedIn contained personally identifiable data including email IDs and phone numbers. With this, hackers can use phishing techniques to hoodwink users to steal money from their bank accounts.

Must read | Data of 500 million users scraped from LinkedIn put on sale on dark web

However, Clubhouse users have less to worry about, as it does not contain any private details. “This is misleading and false, it is a clickbait article (by Cyber News), we were not hacked. The data referred to was all public profile information from our app. So the answer to that is a definitive ‘no.’” Paul Davison, company co-founder said when asked on the Clubhouse data leak.

What is web scraping of data? 
Web scraping is an automated process of using bots to pull information from websites and social media sites. Unless the users or the host company has given permission, it is considered legal, or else it is deemed as a serious crime for violating user privacy protocols.

The reports close on the heels of hackers running fake Clubhouse ads on Facebook to lure naive users to download ransomware into their computers.

Must read | Hackers run fake Clubhouse app ads on Facebook to prey on naive users

Mobile and PC owners must exercise caution while downloading applications or when they receive suspicious emails asking for financial details. Never disclose personal details during a phone call or on emails, unless you are familiar with the person on the other side.

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