Over 2.6 Million DuoLingo Customers Lose Data to Breach

  • By Steven
  • Aug 25, 2023

DuoLingo Data Breach

DuoLingo is a massive language learning service that provides lessons to more than 74 million users around the world. The service offers short language lessons via a set of apps and is designed to help users learn new languages. Duolingo doesn't store a huge amount of information about its users, but it does have enough data on its users for it to be problematic if the information is lost. That's why it's worrying to learn that DuoLingo suffered a data breach that exposed more than 2.6 million users. 

How Did the Attack Occur?

In January of 2023, a hacker was found selling scraped data for over 2.6 million DuoLingo users in a hacker forum. The data was being offered for $1,500, and the attacker provided the information to anyone willing to pay for it. While it doesn't seem like a massive amount of personal data was taken from any of the users, enough information was stolen for it to cause problems for users potentially. The attack was possible via an exposed app API or application programming interface. The API enabled users to get access to more data than they should be able to, and the data was taken and misused, and it still may be misused, further harming some of the individuals exposed. 

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?

Among the vast amounts of stolen data from DuoLingo were user names, real names, and email addresses. The names were publicly accessible, but the emails were not. That means attackers were able to somehow get into the files of DuoLingo and access more user data. Emails being taken is worrisome because the data could be used for phishing attacks. This is why the information is valuable to hackers, and it's likely this vast data pool will be sold to someone. 

How Did DuoLingo Admit to the Breach?

It's unclear if DuoLingo has made any sort of public announcement about the scraped data taken from the organization. The company did admit that its information was exposed in a reply to TheRecord about the data breach. We don't suspect that letters will be sent to the individuals involved since minimal personal information was shared for each person. 

What Will Become of the Stolen Information?

The stolen data was already given away on VX-Underground and is likely in the hands of multiple hackers at this time. Attackers are limited in what they can do with the stolen information, but they may be able to misuse it enough to cause harm to the people involved anyway. 

What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?

If you believe your email, name, and DuoLingo username were shared in the leaked data, you should be careful to avoid giving away any information via your email. If you receive emails requesting you provide data, avoid doing so even if they look official. Duolingo will not ask for usernames, passwords, or other details via email, and providing that information could result in financial losses for you. 

About the Author
IDStrong Logo

Related Articles

Instagram Vulnerability Allowed Hackers Access to Control Your Phone

Security experts Check Point Research discovered a critical vulnerability while examining Instagra ... Read More

Alien Malware Infects More than 226 Mobile Apps and Steals Bank Data

As reported on September 24, 2020, by ZDNet and ThreatPost, a new strain of malware named “A ... Read More

Universal Health Systems Hit by Ransomware Attack

Universal Health Systems (UHS), a Fortune 500 company owning more than 400 hospitals across the co ... Read More

Exchange Server Bug Exposes a Big Risk to Hackers

Months after Microsoft released a patch to fix a serious flaw in MS Exchange Server, more than 61% ... Read More

Clients’ Bank Data Exposed in Blackbaud Ransomware Attack

Blackbaud software was victim to a ransomware attack last May, and new information suggests that c ... Read More

Latest Articles

Health Organization Records Stolen via Welltok’s MOVEit - 930k+ Including Minors

Health Organization Records Stolen via Welltok’s MOVEit - 930k+ Including Minors

The number of victims caused by the global MOVEit data breach continues to climb; Welltok has announced more exposures, this time from three more health organizations.

MOVEit Breach Creates More Victims; 105k Records Stolen from Insurance Group

MOVEit Breach Creates More Victims; 105k Records Stolen from Insurance Group

"Pan American Life Insurance Group Building - New Orleans" by Tony Webster is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source: Flickr

New York Healthcare Provider Notified 600k Following Network Cyberattack

New York Healthcare Provider Notified 600k Following Network Cyberattack

East River Medical Imaging (ERMI) has three locations in New York City and Westchester County.  ERMI is a "multi-modality radiology center," including patient-centered solutions like MRIs, CTs, ultrasounds, imaging, radiology, fluoroscopy, and x-rays.

Featured Articles

How to Buy a House with Bad Credit

How to Buy a House with Bad Credit

Buying your own home is the American Dream, but it might seem out of reach to those with bad credit. However, the good news is, if your credit is less than perfect, you do still have options and in most cases, can still buy a home.

How Secure Is Your Password? Tips to Improve Your Password Security

How Secure Is Your Password? Tips to Improve Your Password Security

Any good IT article on computers and network security will address the importance of strong, secure passwords. However, the challenge of good passwords is that most people have a hard time remembering them, so they use simple or obvious ones that pose a security risk.

Top 10 Senior Scams and How to Prevent Them

Top 10 Senior Scams and How to Prevent Them

Senior scams are becoming a major epidemic for two reasons. First, seniors often have a lot of money in the bank from a life of working hard and saving.

Free Identity Threat Scan
Instantly Check if Your Personal Information is Exposed
All fields below are required
Please enter first name
Please enter last name
Please enter a city
Please select a state
Please enter an age
Please enter an email address
Close