Website retracts claim on Paytm Mall ‘data breach’. Company says ‘vindicated’

The Troy Hunt-created Have I Been Pwned recently claimed that as many as 3.4 million emails were ‘leaked’ during an August 2020 ‘breach’. Paytm Mall has always maintained that no breach ever took place.

Troy Hunt, the creator of the website Have I Been Pwned, on Friday retracted his claim that as many as 3.4 million accounts were compromised during an August 2020 ‘hack’ of Paytm Mall, the e-commerce marketplace wing of Paytm.Also Read: 3.4 million accounts were compromised during August 2020 Paytm Mall ‘hack’, says report“An update on this breach: after loading it into @haveibeenpwned , the head of @paytm m infosec team reached out and we had a chat about the authenticity of the data, which they believe didn’t originate from them. We now collectively believe it’s fabricated, here’s why,” Hunt tweeted.
An update on this breach: after loading it into @haveibeenpwned, the head of @paytm’m infosec team reached out and we had a chat about the authenticity of the data, which they believe didn’t originate from them. We now collectively believe it’s fabricated, here’s why:— Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) July 29, 2022
Hunt then put out an elaborate Twitter thread, explaining why he now believes that the data hack never happened.”This breach has subsequently been flagged as “fabricated”. More here,” posted Have I Been Pwned, quote-tweeting Hunt’s Twitter thread.

Meanwhile, reacting to the development, a Paytm Mall spokesperson said, “The online platform that flagged a data breach of our systems reviewed it and has responsibly retracted its claim. This validates our earlier statement, where we stated that the data breach had no connection with us after conducting thorough investigations. We would like to reassure our users that their data is absolutely safe and protecting their information remains our topmost priority.”Earlier, in a stern response to media reports that personal details of users were ‘leaked’ during the said ‘breach’, the company had described such reports as ‘unsubstantiated’.
Media outlets have wrongly reported the breach of Paytm Mall data. We strongly reject such unsubstantiated reports as the hacker and Cybel had themselves confirmed that there was no breach. Also, the alleged data breach was reported in August 2020 & has no connection with Paytm. pic.twitter.com/6HC1npCbZp— Paytm Mall (@PaytmMall) July 27, 2022
Created in December 2013, Have I Been Pwned is a website that allows Internet users to check whether their personal data has been compromised during data breaches.

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