After a hacker group posted that they were selling TikTok’s source code and user information, the social media platform quickly responded.
On a hacker forum, a group calling themselves “AgainstTheWest” claimed they have a database containing source code and personal data of millions of TikTok users.
The hackers said they breached TikTok’s servers and stole a 790 GB database, which includes source code, over 2 billion records of user personal data, and platform stats like active user numbers and app usage times.
This data reportedly includes info from Douyin users, the Chinese version of TikTok.
The group also shared sample data on the forum to prove they have the database. They are asking for cryptocurrency payments, making it harder to trace their identities.
However, TikTok quickly reassured users, firmly denying any hack had taken place.
A TikTok spokesperson said the hackers’ claims are false: “This is a false allegation. Our security team investigated and found no evidence of TikTok being breached. We verified that the data mentioned by the hackers is publicly available and there has been no intrusion into TikTok’s systems, internal networks, or databases.”
TikTok emphasized that users don’t need to take any action and reaffirmed their commitment to user safety and security.
Meanwhile, American security expert Troy Hunt noted that most of the data the hackers are selling appears to be publicly available TikTok data. However, some private data of unclear origin was included, so he can’t confirm if the hackers actually accessed TikTok’s internal systems.
Besides TikTok, the “AgainstTheWest” group also claimed to have stolen data from WeChat, one of China’s largest messaging apps. WeChat has not yet commented on these claims.
