Unacademy, one of the country’s largest online learning platforms has been hit by a data breach as details of 22 million users of Unacademy are reportedly available for sale now, reports Economic Times
According to security firm Cyble Inc, a hacker has been offering to sell the user database, containing 21,909,707 records, for USD 2,000. The firm Cyble Inc added that it has managed to acquire the database and added the user records to its data breach monitoring service which can be used by millions of Unacademy users to determine whether their account was hacked or not.
Reportedly, the records include usernames, hashed passwords, date joined, last login date, email addresses, first and last names, account profile (staff member/a superuser), account status (whether the account is active) has been leaked due to the data breach.
According to Cyble, the hackers are only putting up the user records up for sale at this time and may have access to more information. The firm recommended that registered Unacademy learners and educators immediately change their passwords on the site.
Data is safe: Unacademy co-founder
Unacademy Co-Founder and CTO Hemesh Singh confirmed the data breach but added that all sensitive information of the learners are safe. “We have been closely monitoring the situation and can confirm that basic information related to around 11 million learners has been compromised,” he added.
Singh added, “We would like to assure our learners that no sensitive information such as financial data, location or passwords has been breached. We follow stringent encryption methods using the PBKDF2 algorithm with a SHA256 hash, making it highly implausible for anyone to access the learner passwords.”
“We also follow an OTP based login system that provides an additional layer of security to our learners. We are doing a complete background check and will be addressing any potential security loophole to further our efforts of ensuring a robust security mechanism. Data security and privacy of our learners is of utmost importance to us and we will be in communication with our learners to keep them updated on the progress,” said Hemesh Singh.
Unacademy recently raised a Series F round of funding of $110 million. Key investors in the firm include Facebook, General Atlantic and Sequoia.
According to Unacademy, over 300,000 students have benefited from over 2,400 online lessons and specialised courses available on the learning platform to clear different competitive examinations.
Celebrities on Unacademy
Unacademy had recently announced the second edition of its popular program ‘Legends on Unacademy’. As part of this program, live classes were hosted on the Unacademy platform by renowned author and former international diplomat Shashi Tharoor, retired IPS officer and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi, ace cricketer Virat Kohli, and talented Bollywood actor and producer Anushka Sharma.
Shashi Tharoor had conducted classes on the subject of International Relations as well as his stint at the United Nations. The live class by Kiran Bedi was on one of the most crucial topics- crisis management.
The joint live Class by Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma was regarding dreams and hard work and the importance of staying motivated and focused to build a successful career.
