Researchers have found out what could be the largest data breach of all time, which has compromised 16 billion of login credentials from many different databases. People are expected to act now and protect themselves from future exploitation, phishing attacks, and account takeover as a result of this data breach.
Read more about the gravity of this issue and the necessary steps to be taken below.
Data Breach Threatening Google, Apple, Facebook, and More?
The ongoing investigation of Vilius Petkauskas – Deputy Editor at Cybernews, has brought to light the information of a massive data breach. Multiple infostealers are held responsible for this, and what should be noted is that – this is not just a data breach but a blueprint for massive exploitation.
Reportedly, 30 datasets have been exposed as part of the data breach, and each is believed to contain tens of millions to more than 3.5 billion records, and in total, 16 billion records or credentials have been compromised. These include login credentials from social media platforms, developer portals, users accounts, VPNs, and more, and it could open the door for wrongdoers onto almost every online services as mentioned by the researchers – including Google, Apple, Facebook, GitHub, Telegram, and other various government services.
As of now, people and users of these mentioned services are advised to start acting immediately so as to protect themselves. On the Have I Been Pwned website, users can check whether their email address was part of any data breaches. In Google’s password manager, users will also be able to find out whether their current password is strong or weak. Instead of passwords, Google now encourages its users to switch to passkeys as well, as these are considered to be even more secure and safe.
Also, in the future, people are advised to stay cautious to prevent such data breaches and are asked to not click on unknown or shared links, nor type in their personal details on any suspicious websites.
