Twitter leak exposes 235 million email addresses from hack

Personal emails linked to 235 million Twitter accounts hacked some time ago have been exposed according to Israeli security researcher Alon Gal — making millions vulnerable to having their accounts compromised or identities exposed if they have used the site anonymously to criticize oppressive governments, for instance.

Gal, who is the co-founder and chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, wrote in a LinkedIn post this week that the leak “will unfortunately lead to a lot of hacking, targeted phishing, and doxxing.”

While account passwords were not leaked, malicious hackers could use the email addresses to try to reset people's passwords, or guess them if they are commonly used or reused with other accounts. That's especially a risk if if the accounts are not protected by two-factor authentication, which adds a second layer of security to password-protected accounts by having users enter an auto-generated code to log in.

People who use Twitter anonymously should have a Twitter-dedicated email address that does not disclose who they are and is used solely for Twitter, experts say.