The WikiLeaks-style group DDoSecrets claims that Parler-like site Gab has been breached and is now set to share 70GB of passwords, private posts, and more
The transparency group DDoSecrets says it will make the 70GB of passwords, private posts, and more available to researchers, journalists, and social scientists.
The planned research access matters because the dataset can support independent scrutiny of Gab's actual use: a later examination of the repository found that 1.5 million of its more than 4 million accounts had posted content.
First-order effects
Gab users whose passwords and private posts are in the claimed 70GB archive face exposure of account credentials and communications to the researchers, journalists, and social scientists selected by DDoSecrets.
DDoSecrets becomes the gatekeeper for access to the Gab archive, determining how leaked platform data reaches outside investigators.
Second-order effects
Journalists and researchers gain material to assess Gab's user base and activity independently, rather than relying solely on the platform's account totals.
Gab must contend with a breach narrative shaped by external analysis of its user data, while its users face stronger incentives to protect or replace exposed credentials.
Third-order effects
Repeated releases position DDoSecrets as a durable distribution layer for hacked datasets, concentrating editorial and access decisions in a transparency collective rather than with the breached organizations.
If social-platform breaches continue to be routed through research access programs, leaked user data will increasingly become an input to public accountability work as well as a privacy and security liability.
The trend: Large leaked datasets are increasingly being curated and selectively distributed by activist repositories, turning breaches into inputs for sustained external scrutiny of institutions and platforms.
On Friday I contacted Gab about a major breach of their backend. Their CEO responded with a blog post accusing me of “assisting the hacker in his efforts to smear our business.” He followed up today w/ another post about “[transphobic slur] demon hackers.” https://www.wired.com/.…
Wut. WIRED reached out to Gab for comment: “'Reporters, who write for a publication that has written many hit pieces on Gab ... are in direct contact with the hacker and are essentially assisting the hacker in his efforts to smear our business...'” https://www.wired.com/...
Wired's @a_greenberg reports that Gab was hacked. Andrew Torba, the founder of the Twitter knock off, responded by... calling people names. This is what happens when fighting the culture wars is more important than keeping your users safe. https://www.wired.com/...
“For groups, where passwords are meant to be shared for users to join, we do not encrypt this info as is noted in our interface. DMs were only live a few weeks & are not currently a feature supported, so we expect the # of affected accounts to be low.” https://news.gab.com/...
Gab, the far-right social network where insurrectionists planned and boasted about storming the Capitol, was hacked. #DDoSecrets says it'll make 70GB of passwords, private posts, & more available to researchers, journalists, & social scientists. https://www.wired.com/... via @wir…