A significant data breach involving a colossal 400GB dataset of X (formerly Twitter) users has emerged on hacker forums, exposing personal information of nearly 2.9 billion accounts. This incident is being described as one of the most substantial data leaks within the social media landscape, drawing attention to the ongoing security challenges faced by tech giants.
The breach first came into the public eye on March 28, 2025, when a user known as "ThinkingOne" disclosed crucial details about the leak. Their assertion is that this unauthorized access occurred during a period marked by a series of layoffs at X, allegedly executed by a disgruntled employee.
"ThinkingOne"
"Our efforts to alert X and its user base about this breach were largely ignored, which led us to share this information publicly," said ThinkingOne. Their claims indicate that the breach's implications are significant, especially as it combines data from a prior leak in 2023, which involved 200 million users. At that time, X had brushed off the data as "publicly available information."
"Our efforts to alert X and its user base about this breach were largely ignored, which led us to share this information publicly,"
By the Numbers
ThinkingOne further elaborated, "Only records with screen names present in both datasets are included, forming a total of 201,186,753 entries." This overlap highlights the scale of the breach and the depth of data exposed.
The dataset from the 2023 leak primarily contained basic user data, such as usernames, screen names, and follower counts. However, the recently revealed dataset from January 2025 takes matters to a concerning new level. It includes sensitive information such as user IDs, locations, language preferences, and detailed metrics on user activities.
This progression in data depth raises alarming privacy and security questions. The enriched dataset could potentially enable cybercriminals to engage in profiling, phishing schemes, or more targeted cyberattacks.
Evidence corroborating the breach has been substantiated by an investigative team known as Cyber Press, which revealed the existence of accompanying files linked to the data leak. Their analysis discovered 165 files, including CSV datasets dated January 24, 2025, that collectively contain gigabytes of structured data.
Examples of these files include significant entries such as: - twitter_users_014.csv.xz: 361.2 MB - twitter_users_010.csv.xz: 376.0 MB - twitter_users_003.csv.xz: 372.6 MB
ThinkingOne stands firm in the authenticity of the leaked data, claiming that a thorough analysis was conducted, albeit without a clear disclosure of their extraction methods. If substantiated, this breach would not only surpass previous incidents in scale but also potentially stand as the second-largest data breach in history.
Impact and Legacy
As the ramifications of this data leak unfold, cybersecurity experts and analysts are urging users to remain vigilant and take proactive steps to safeguard their accounts. With personal information poised to be exploited, the impact of this breach could resonate across the internet, amplifying concerns about data security in an increasingly interconnected digital environment.
