A watchdog is to investigate Twitter after a hacker claimed to have private details linked to more than 400 million accounts.
Another case of a data breach makes headlines and this time it's at Twitter. A hacker named "Ryushi" has demanded $200,000 to hand over the data of 400 million users including some celebrities, and politicians. A probe has been launched by Ireland's watchdog. The Data Protection Commission (DPC) said that it "will examine Twitter's compliance with data protection law in relation to that security issue".
The hacker, "Ryushi", is demanding $200,000 (£166,000) to hand over the data - reported to include that of some celebrities - and delete it.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) says it "will examine Twitter's compliance with data-protection law in relation to that security issue".
Twitter has not commented on the claim.
The data is said to include phone numbers and emails, including those belonging to celebrities and politicians, but the purported size of the haul is not confirmed. Only a small “sample” has so far been made public.
BBC reports that data of US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was included in the sample of data published by the hacker. The data of broadcaster Piers Morgan, who recently had his Twitter account hacked, is also reported to be included.
Twitter has so far not responded to press inquiries about the claimed breach.