Hacker Known as 'Ryushi' Gains Access to 400 Million Twitter Accounts, Offers to Sell to Elon Musk

An unidentified hacker claims to have gained access to 400 million Twitter user accounts. According to the hacker, these accounts should be purchased solely by the company’s CEO, Elon Musk. This was reported by Security Affairs portal.

The seller, who uses the alias Ryushi online, has opened 'trial access' to 1,000 Twitter accounts to allow a potential buyer to verify the authenticity of the breach. Reportedly, during the investigation, personal data of notable figures such as Donald Trump Jr., cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs, and others may be found.

Ryushi himself is offering to sell the database containing all the accounts to Twitter's leadership, specifically Elon Musk. He stated, "Twitter or Elon Musk, if you are reading this, you are already at risk of a GDPR fine for the leakage of 5.4 million accounts. Imagine the fine for a breach of 400 million accounts. The best way to avoid a penalty of $276 million for violating GDPR, as Facebook did for the leak of 533 million users, is to acquire this data on an exclusive basis."

Previously, it was reported that the EU is set to investigate Twitter regarding the leakage of data for 5.4 million users. The alleged breach occurred prior to Elon Musk assuming the role of CEO, but this will not exempt the billionaire from liability if the information regarding the compromise is confirmed. If the EU government finds evidence of the leak, Twitter could face fines of up to 4% of its annual turnover.

Elon Musk has not responded to the cybercriminal's offer in any way.