Unacademy data breach: Hacker allegedly steals data of 2.2 cr users, sells it on dark web

Online learning platform Unacademy is the latest victim of data breach in India with around 2.2 crore users suffering a major loss recently. A hacker was able to obtain the database of Unacademy users and has started selling them on the dark Web for $2,000 (roughly Rs. 1,51,800), according to US-based cybersecurity firm Cyble. The data was stolen in January.

The information reportedly includes usernames, hashed passwords, email addresses, and first and last names of users. Unacademy has confirmed the breach in a statement, though it has said that only 11 million users were affected.

Cyble claims that data of 2,19,09,707 users was available n Dark web. This data included have SHA-256 hashed passwords, first and last names of users and the details about whether the account is active. It is reported that the last user account created in the database is from January 26. This suggests that the hacker was able to breach Unacademy's systems sometime in January.

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The report added that data exposed also includes accounts using corporate email addresses. These email addresses reportedly include company names such as Cognizant, Google, Infosys, and Wipro as well as Unacademy's investor Facebook among others. If these users were using the same password on other networks, it can allow hacker to gain access to their professional accounts as well. 

One major fear is that if any of the affected users were using the same password at their workplace that they used for signing in on the learning platform, the hacker could gain access to their professional accounts as well.

In case you have been using Unacademy and have an account on the platform, you are advised to change the password immediately. Also, you should change the log in details of any other platform that uses the same password.