So here’s why you should use password managers and change your passwords at least every 60 days!
A huge database of 272 million emails and passwords for popular email services, including Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo, are being offered for sale on the Dark Web for less than a £1.
An anonymous Russian hacker, who goes by the moniker “the Collector,” was first spotted by cybersecurity Security analysts advertising 1.17 Billion user records for email accounts on a dark web forum.
The stolen credentials apparently come from some of the world’s biggest email providers, including Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft and Russia’s Mail.ru.
When security analysts Security contacted the hacker to begin negotiating for the dataset to verify the authenticity of those records, the hacker only asked for 50 Rubles (less than a pound) in return of the complete dump. (He must be desperate for cash!)
However, it seems that there is actually nothing to worry about. (Slight sarcastic tone to this bit!)
As it transpires, a large number of those 1.17 Billion accounts credentials turned out to be duplicate and that only 272 Million records were unique. Yes, only 272 million! Phew!
According to the report, the mostly compromised credentials, 57 Million, belong to Russia’s leading email provider Mail.ru, followed by 40 Million Yahoo accounts, Microsoft 33 Million Hotmail accounts and 24 million Gmail accounts.
Of those 272 Million records analysed by Security researchers, around 42.5 Million were credentials that had not seen traded on the Dark Web before.
Just last week, PwnedList, a website with the largest database of stolen credentials that allows users to check if a data breach had compromised their emails account, has been hit by hackers.
More than 866 million account credentials collected and indexed from 101,000 data breaches were leaked online due to a vulnerability on PwnedList’s website.
Password managers are perfect for this; things like Lastpass, KeePass, 1password, etc…Get them installed and change your passwords regularly!
Please!
