Discord says 70,000 age-verification ID photos may have been leaked in recent security breach that also includes names, usernames, emails, credit cards, and IP addresses

Discord hackers distribute malware that can stay persistent for months — (Image credit: TheDigitalArtist - Pixabay & Discord)

In a development that will come as no surprise to critics of age-verification legislation, Discord has just put a figure on its recent security breach in terms of the number of government photo IDs that have been compromised. And that figure is 70,000.

In a statement to The Verge, Discord clarified that its own security was not breached. Instead, it was a third-party supplier of customer support that was compromised.

More specifically, it was government photo ID used to review age-related appeals that was stolen. "This was not a breach of Discord, but rather a third-party service we use to support our customer service efforts. Second, the numbers being shared are incorrect and part of an attempt to extort a payment from Discord. Of the accounts impacted globally, we have identified approximately 70,000 users that may have had government-ID photos exposed, which our vendor used to review age-related appeals. Third, we will not reward those responsible for their illegal actions," Discord said.

One such solution is known as Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKP). It's a cryptographic technique for proving something is true or false without revealing any information. Jacob says ZKP has been used on blockchains and even debated as a tool for nuclear disarmament talks, "but in this context, they act as a guarantee that a user is over a certain age without providing any identifying information on said user."

In response, Discord has said, "all affected users globally have been contacted and we continue to work closely with law enforcement, data protection authorities, and external security experts. We’ve secured the affected systems and ended work with the compromised vendor. We take our responsibility to protect your personal data seriously and understand the concern this may cause."

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Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.

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