Data leak exposes over 200M Telegram user records

Telegram had more than 200 million user records purportedly obtained from a trio of databases exposed in BreachForums on Jan. 24, according to Cybernews.

Included in the 44 GB uncompressed data trove were individuals' names, Telegram usernames, email addresses, and phone numbers, reported Cybernews researchers. Further examination of the exposed data showed 60 million Telegram records, including 16 billion credentials, said researchers, who are yet to conclude whether the information was from a new breach or stolen in previous intrusions.

"The data probably isn't scraped since Telegram user emails are not publicly accessible unless this is a combination of the scraped data as well as information from older data breaches," researchers added. Telegram users have also been warned of potential massive phishing campaigns that could stem from the compromised data. Mounting targeting of Telegram by threat actors of varying sophistication has prompted cybersecurity consulting firm NVISO to urge businesses to prohibit the messaging app's API.