Clubhouse is the new social media app that has created a lot of buzz lately. The app has been received very positively by the users and has led many big companies to have a cloned version. Since the launch, the app has been only invite-only, which means you can use the app only if you have the invite. A few days back, the company has announced that Clubhouse is now open for everyone. Just after the app was free for everyone, news started circulating regarding the data breach of Clubhouse. The report states that the data of clubhouse with phone numbers are for sale on the darknet.
The post mentions the number of people’s phone numbers available for sale is 3.8 billion. That is nearly equal to half the population of the world. But when observed the downloads of the app, it has just reached 10 million on Android. If we can assume another 5 million downloads in Apple App Store, that won’t be near the 3.8 billion number. This news was first spotted on Twitter by Jiten Jain and many others. Jiten Jain is the CEO of the Indian Infosec Consortium and has ten years of experience in Cyber Security.
A database of 3.8 billion phone numbers of #Clubhouse users is up for sale on the #Darknet. It also contains Numbers of people in user’s PhoneBooks that were Synced. So Chances are high that you are listed even if you haven’t had a Clubhouse login. #DataPrivacy pic.twitter.com/IFgFGA8meU
— Jiten Jain (@jiten_jain) July 24, 2021
In his Tweet, he mentions that the numbers available in Darknet are not only of the installed persons. But also numbers are present in the contact list of the people who have installed Clubhouse. This means even though you haven’t installed the application, but you have a friend who has your contact that has installed Clubhouse, then your number is also available in the list.
There are a lot of people who have been saying the news is just fake. They mention that according to the leak if 3.8 billion people’s phone number is available, it means there are 380 contacts per person on an average. This is not the first time Clubhouse has faced this news previously; also, it has got some news. But the CEO of Clubhouse has denied the fact and mentioned data privacy is their priority. They have also said that they have been using the latest and safest security methods to protect users’ data.
Another Cyber Security expert Alon Gal aka Under the Breach, mentions the news is fake. He says there are just phone numbers in his Tweet without any other details, and they can be from anywhere. Regarding this news, the CEO of Clubhouse mentions they are facing many bot attacks that generate fake numbers. So this also means that the list they were saying will have many numbers generated by the bots.
The new Clubhouse database leak is pretty much bullshit.
It is just a list of phone numbers, without any additional information, they could have arrived from anywhere. pic.twitter.com/fj9GnriAov
— Alon Gal (Under the Breach) (@UnderTheBreach) July 24, 2021
So that’s been it. Thank you for reading, and do share the article if you get a bit piece of information. Also, keep an eye on this space for more relevant updates. Stay safe, and we hope to see you around.