Hackers stole over 200 million email addresses from Twitter users. These addresses were then posted on an online piracy forum.

At least 400 million email addresses and phone numbers are believed to have been stolen long before this latest operation. The identity or location of the hackers is still not known. Alon Gal, co-founder of the Israeli cybersecurity monitoring company Hudson Rock, informed LinkedIn that the breach “will unfortunately lead to a lot of hacking, targeted phishing, and doxxing.” Alon Gal called it “one of the most significant leaks I've seen.”

Twitter for its part did not publish any comment on the subject, even after two weeks of publishing the report alleging piracy. On December 24, The Gal posted on social media that Twitter would have taken an opaque approach to the matter because the microblogging site's response to the report remains unknown.

Le milliardaire Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October. Musk called on advertisers to work together after the takeover. Musk said in a message to advertisers that he bought Twitter because it was a cornerstone of civilization and would help humanity.