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 immediate significance is not only the reported size of the cache but its mix of credentials and private communications. A later examination of the Gab repository also distinguished registered accounts from accounts that had actually posted, making the dataset’s composition central to how its impact is assessed.
First-order effects
Gab users whose passwords or private posts are in the reported archive face direct exposure, while Gab must contend with a breach claim involving both account-security and communications data.
DDoSecrets becomes the distribution point for material that can be examined by journalists, researchers, and other third parties rather than remaining with the party that obtained it.
Second-order effects
Gab’s standing with users is pressured by the prospect that private activity can be independently scrutinized, particularly once outside analysis separates active accounts from dormant registrations.
The release reinforces DDoSecrets’ role as a recurring publisher of hacked or leaked institutional data, following its earlier corporate and law-enforcement disclosures.
Third-order effects
If this publication pattern persists, breaches increasingly become durable public archives whose consequences extend beyond the initial intrusion to ongoing analysis of platforms and their communities.
Platforms serving politically defined audiences face a compounded risk: a security incident can expose users while also creating a long-lived dataset for outside scrutiny.
The trend: DDoSecrets is part of a broader shift in which activist leak repositories turn discrete breaches into enduring, publicly analyzable datasets.
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/.…
My fledgling little Gab account with only 124 followers is producing more likes and comments than the same post on FACEBOOK with nearly 2000 “friends” and another nearly 1000 following. It is a pure exposure of the massive shadow-banning on Facebook.
“According to DDoSecrets' Best, the hacker says that they pulled out Gab's data via a SQL injection vulnerability in the site” Gab is open source so you can follow along as they remove random search functions in an attempt to make their hellsite secure: https://code.gab.com/! htt…
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/...
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…
“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/...
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/...