16 billion passwords and login credentials of Apple, Facebook, Google, and many other companies have been leaked. This is considered to be the biggest leak in database history so far. Earlier in May, it was claimed that more than 18.4 crore passwords were leaked. Cyber security researchers say that such a large-scale password leak is believed to be the work of many groups.
According to Vilius Petkauskas of CyberNews, 30 datasets have been leaked. Each of these has more than 3.5 billion records. He said the number of leaked passwords and login credentials has reached 16 billion. This includes billions of login credentials for social media, VPN, developer portals, and accounts of many major companies.
Blueprint for widespread abuse
Experts say that this is a blueprint for widespread exploitation. With this, people's bank accounts and financial accounts can be logged in. Most of the leaked data is in the format of a URL. After this, there is a login and password. With this, any online service from Apple, Facebook, Google to HitHub, Telegram, and various government services can be hacked.
This is how the data would have been stolen.
According to experts, data on this scale would have been stolen from many infostealing malware (software that steals sensitive information). Cybercriminals often use this malware and sell passwords and information on the dark web. Researchers also contacted the host provider who was storing millions of passwords in a text file. It is claimed that new large datasets emerge every few weeks, which indicates how dangerous the infostealer malware is. However, a lot of information in it can also overlap. Due to this the number of people affected cannot be estimated. 5.5 billion people have access to the Internet, so it is believed that the information of more than half the people has been leaked.
Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Amar Ujala. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.
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