If you haven’t heard, or you’ve gotten bits and pieces of the story but no clarity, it appears that Wattpad WAS hacked.

The company hasn’t been the most transparent or informative about the issue.

On July 14, Wattpad released a statement saying it was “aware of reports that some user data has been accessed without authorization” and the company was working with external consultants to investigate and remediate the problem.

That suggests the company didn’t know if a data breach truly occurred or not at that point.

But oddly, that message also said:

From our investigation, to date, we can confirm that no financial information, stories, private messages, or phone numbers were accessed during this incident. Wattpad does not process financial information through our impacted servers, and active Wattpad users’ passwords are salted and cryptographically hashed.

Then, on July 20, the company provided an update, which still didn’t confirm Wattpad was hacked. But it urged:

Out of precaution, and as is common in these situations, we are resetting passwords and advising users to change passwords on other sites if they used the same password.

Sources Confirm Wattpad Was Hacked

Cyble, a cyber-security firm, said it came across somebody who took credit for the Wattpad security breach.

That individual reportedly posted Wattpad’s hijacked database in a hacking forum, and during the first week of July, it was being advertised for 10 bitcoin,or about $100,000.

Cyble said it tested sample records and verified it contained leaked Wattpad user accounts.

From that information, the firm said it believes Wattpad was hacked in June 2020 and 271 million records were leaked including:

• Login Credentials
• Full Name
• Contact Number
• Date of Birth, etc.

Furthermore, Firefox offered this:

No Notification, No Answer

BetaKit spoke with some Wattpad users and they reportedly said that Wattpad hadn’t reached out to them about the security breach or any need to change passwords.

And BetaKit said when it reached out to Wattpad to verify what information was compromised, and whether the company had contacted users, a Wattpad spokesperson declined to comment on all questions.

The individual simply said Wattpad would continue to update its online statement as its “investigation continues.”

What You Should Do

If you’re a Wattpad user and you’re wondering what to do, Firefox advises that you change your Wattpad password and do the same for any accounts that use that same password.

You should also be using a service that masks your IP address, according to Firefox, because IP addresses can reveal your location and internet service provider.

And if you’re a Wattpad user or you have anything to add to this that can help your fellow creators, please share in the comment section.

Y’all stay safe out there on the www.