Massive Data Breach Exposes 773 Million Emails, 21 Million Passwords
Security researcher Troy Hunt reported last week a massive data breach, a collection of 772,9-4,991 unique emails and 21,222,975 unique passwords.
- By Jessica Davis
- Jan 23, 2019
Security researcher Troy Hunt reported last week a massive data breach, a collection of 772,9-4,991 unique emails and 21,222,975 unique passwords. The breach could be one of the largest data breaches of all time, according to reports.
Hunt initially reported the breach, called “Collection #1,” on Jan. 17. According to Hunt, the breach is “made up of many different individual data breaches from literally thousands of different sources” and is especially dangerous because it creates 1.6 billion “unique combinations of email addresses and passwords.”
The data was contained in 12,000 separate files at a total of 87 GB of data on hacking forums. Security experts are particularly concerned because the files include “dehashed” passwords, meaning hackers were able to unscramble and expose concealed passwords.
According to Hunt, the leaked email and password combinations are prime for credential stuffing, a hacking practice where breached username or email/password combinations are used to hack into other accounts where a user might have recycled passwords.
You can use Hunt’s website “Have I Been Pwned” to see if your information was part of the breach.
Here are five ways to protect your accounts from hackers. If you have been hacked, here are some steps to take in the aftermath.
About the Author
Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.