Cybernews researchers have discovered more than 16 billion stolen credentials online. By investigating across the internet, experts have uncovered 30 datasets containing more than 3.5 billion records. The compromised information includes credentials, such as usernames and email addresses, as well as passwords. The directories also contain access tokens, login cookies, and metadata. According to Cybernews, this is "one of the largest data breaches in history."
The Origins of the Data Leak
The researchers were unable to trace the identity of the owner of the stolen data. According to them, the compromised information was mainly recovered by infostealers, malware specialized in data theft. Increasingly widespread, infostealers are responsible for a significant proportion of recent cybersecurity incidents, including the large-scale attack against hundreds of Snowflake customers last year. According to Kaspersky, nearly ten million devices were infected by this type of malware in one year worldwide.
The data sucked up by viruses was combined with information obtained through other leaks or so-called credential stuffing attacks, which consist of using already compromised credentials to access a multitude of platforms. As long as two-factor authentication is not enabled, hackers can easily gain access to an account. They can then retrieve other information. The directories have been enriched with data from other breaches, the report states.
Cybernews specifies that duplicates exist within the 16 billion compromised records. The same login credentials are present in several leaks. Despite this, the true number of victims is difficult to determine.
Facebook, Apple, and Google data compromised
The exposed directories contain data relating to social networks (Facebook, Telegram), cloud services (Google, Apple, GitHub), VPNs, professional or government portals, development platforms, and financial services (WeChat, Alipay). In most cases, the data is recent. These are not "old recycled breaches, but rather recent, actionable intelligence designed for mass use", the researchers emphasize.
The good news is that the information was not exposed online for long. The data was only temporarily freely accessible to all Internet users. However, the data remains in the hands of individuals who are potentially malicious. Used by a cybercriminal, compromised credentials can be used to orchestrate a wide range of attacks, including ransomware extortion operations, phishing campaigns, or simply account takeovers.
This “isn’t just a data breach — it’s an operational base for large-scale exploitation,” explain the researchers behind the discovery. With “more than 16 billion login credentials exposed, cybercriminals now have unprecedented access to sensitive personal information.”
The Accumulation of Leaks
This isn’t the first massive leak of the year. Last month, 184 million passwords from Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon were discovered freely available on the internet. Several months earlier, a file containing nearly 10 billion stolen passwords, dubbed RockYou2024, was discovered by security researchers. Early last year, 26 billion compromised records were also unearthed by researchers at Cybernews.
As data breaches continue to multiply, giving cybercriminals all the information they need to trap you. To avoid falling into a hacker's trap, take the time to enable two-factor authentication and choose a good, complex password. Above all, don't recycle your passwords.
Source: Cybernews
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