A recent password leak has affected over 16 billion account credentials, representing a significant threat to users of popular platforms.
Scale of the Credential Leak
Researchers from Cybernews discovered that the leak includes credentials from major companies like Google, Apple, and Meta (Facebook). The data is organized and includes real usernames, passwords, cookies, and metadata, making it easily accessible to hackers. Of particular note is one file containing over 3.5 billion passwords, with researchers finding a total of 30 large files.
Security Recommendations
Experts recommend that users quickly change their passwords and avoid reusing them. It is also crucial to enable two-factor authentication for increased security. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) emphasized that everyone should use different passwords for different sites and ideally different email addresses.
Expert Reactions
Security expert Darren Guccione, CEO of Keeper Security, highlighted that this leak indicates poor cloud security, warning that it could just be the tip of a larger iceberg of cyber threats. The increase in account breaches may lead to more extensive attacks on companies.
In light of this leak, it is important for users to become more vigilant about their cybersecurity, updating passwords and implementing additional layers of protection.
