WikiLeaks-style group Distributed Denial of Secrets has revealed what it calls “GabLeaks”: a collection of more than 70 gigabytes of data from social media platform Gab, representing more than 40 million posts. Less well-known than Parler, which recently made the headlines as it was taken offline, Gab is a so-called “free speech” platform, known for its far-right userbase. DDoSecrets says a hacktivist who self-identifies as “JaXpArO and My Little Anonymous Revival Project” siphoned that data out of Gab’s backend databases in an effort to expose the platform‘s users. Those Gab patrons, whose numbers have swelled after Parler went offline, include large numbers of Qanon conspiracy theorists, white nationalists, and promoters of former president Donald Trump’s election-stealing conspiracies that resulted in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
DDoSecrets cofounder Emma Best says that the hacked data includes not only all of Gab’s public posts and profiles—with the exception of any photos or videos uploaded to the site—but also private group and private individual account posts and messages, as well as user passwords and group passwords. “It contains pretty much everything on Gab, including user data and private posts, everything someone needs to run a nearly complete analysis on Gab users and content,” Best wrote in a text message interview with WIRED. DDoSecrets says it’s not publicly releasing the data due to its sensitivity and the vast amounts of private information it contains. Instead the group says it will selectively share it with journalists, social scientists, and researchers.
<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">There are multiple motivations behind different types of hacking, but there is still no legitimate excuse for unethical hacking. Although it may seem like some data breaches are justified, when passwords and other personal information is leaked online and surface on underground markets, the damage is only just beginning. Honourable criminal hacking is still illegal and comes with some of the same intentions of standard unethical hacking. It may sound sensational, but the criminal aims behind the motivation still have huge consequences, which are often forgotten about in situations such as this. There are sometimes worrying attempts to justify this sort of hacking.</span></p>