The Video Sharing Platform Tiktok Has Strongly Denied Rumors That It Has Been Hacked

simeondrizzy September 8, 2022

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Hackers claiming to have obtained access to a database containing TikTok’s source code and user information have shared photos of the database online, prompting accusations of a security breach, which TikTok has denied (via Bleeping Computer). While investigating these claims, TikTok’s staff concluded that “no evidence of a security compromise” existed.

Bleeping Computer reports that hackers have posted screenshots of what they claim to be TikTok’s database to an online hacking community after claiming to have found the files on a server belonging to the video sharing platform. It has been reported that the server contains approximately 2 billion records and 790GB of user data, platform statistics, code, and other information.

This is so far pretty inconclusive; some data matches production info, albeit publicly accessible info. Some data is junk, but it could be non-production or test data. It's a bit of a mixed bag so far.
— Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) September 5, 2022

TikTok spokeswoman Maureen Shanahan told The Verge, “We have determined that the data samples in question are all publicly accessible and are not due to any hack of TikTok systems, networks, or databases.” There is no need for users to take any preventative measures, and we are dedicated to keeping our worldwide community secure.
In all likelihood, the “stolen” data consisted primarily of information that was available to the general public and scraped from the service. Microsoft director and author of the Have I Been Pwned tool Troy Hunt deemed the information obtained by the hackers “inconclusive,” but speculated that “it could be non-production or test material” that was not obtained through a breach.

The hackers behind “AgainstTheWest” also say they stole information from the Chinese messaging service WeChat. WeChat did not immediately react to The Verge’s request for comment, and Hunt was unable to verify whether the hackers’ database contained stolen data.

TikTok and WeChat have been under fire for their perceived closeness to China (TikTok’s parent firm, ByteDance, is also headquartered in China). Following concerns that Chinese employees at TikTok had access to personal data belonging to American customers, the company took several measures, including moving all American data to Oracle’s servers in the United States.