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48 million Gmail login credentials exposed in massive leak.<\/p>\n
SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Updated January 24 with further analysis from cybersecurity and privacy experts following the news that 48 million Gmail usernames and passwords have been found within a publicly exposed criminal database of some 149 million compromised credentials.<\/p>\n
A highly respected veteran security researcher has confirmed that a database of 149 million compromised credentials, including those for an estimated 48 million Gmail accounts, has been leaked online. \u201cThe publicly exposed database was not password-protected or encrypted,\u201d Jeremiah Fowler said, adding that the database of unique logins and passwords totalled \u201ca massive 96 GB of raw credential data.\u201d Here\u2019s what we know so far, and what action you need to take.<\/p>\n
ForbesLastPass Issues Critical Warning For Users \u2014 Password Attacks UnderwayBy Davey Winder<\/a>149 Million Login Credentials Exposed In Leak \u2014 Including An Estimated 48 Million Gmail Accounts<\/p>\n It\u2019s not been the greatest start to a new year when it comes to password security. The LastPass password manager has issued a warning<\/a> for millions of users as attacks have been confirmed as underway, LinkedIn users<\/a> are alsoon alert as policy violation scammers target account passwords, and now comes the breaking news that a whopping great 149 million compromised credentials have been exposed online in an unprotected database.<\/p>\n According to cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler, who uncovered the leaked database and has published a report<\/a> sharing his findings, the database contained a total of 149,404,754 unique logins and password.<\/p>\n It should be noted that this is not a new breach of the services involved, and most likely is a database made up of data from past breaches and infostealer logs<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw thousands of files that included emails, usernames, passwords, and the URL links to the login or authorization for the accounts,\u201d Fowler has confirmed, adding that the database illustrates that cybercriminals themselves are \u201cnot immune to data breaches.\u201d<\/p>\n Fowler has estimated the number of accounts for major services that had their compromised credentials included in the leaked database, with the most, by a long chalk, seemingly belonging to Gmail users.<\/p>\n Here are the totals provided by Fowler, in order of volume:<\/p>\n Gmail – 48 millionFacebook – 17 millionInstagram – 6.5 millionYahoo – 4 millionNetflix – 3.4 millionOutlook – 1.5 million<\/p>\n The good news is that the database is no longer available online, although it took more than a month for Fowler to get it taken down.<\/p>\n ForbesHas Your Gmail Password Been Hacked? Check Now, Here\u2019s HowBy Davey Winder<\/a>Cybersecurity And Privacy Experts Speak Out On Credentials Database Exposure Impacting Gmail And Other Platforms<\/p>\n Matt Conlon, CEO of Cytidel, has called it a treasure trove for anyone with malicious intent. \u201cInfo stealers have seen a significant rise in prevalence over the past few years,\u201d Conlon said, \u201cand a data breach like this highlights just how widespread this issue is.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Boris Cipot, a senior security engineer at Black Duck, said that \u201cthere is no way to know how much damage or data leakage occurred before it was removed,\u201d adding that \u201cthe database also contained logins for government, banking, and streaming services, making it a highly valuable target for cybercriminals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFowler believes the data was collected by infostealing malware, also known as a keylogger<\/a>, which infects user devices and records their inputs,\u201d Cipot said. \u201cBecause the database was still growing during his investigation, this strongly suggests the malware is still active.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayur Upadhyaya, CEO at APIContext, told me that the exposed database is a \u201cstark reminder\u201d that credentials don\u2019t just get stolen, but they also get reused. \u201cAnd that\u2019s where the real risk lies,\u201d Upadhyaya said, \u201conce login and password pairs are exposed, even from criminal infrastructure, they become fuel for credential stuffing: automated attempts to reuse those same credentials across other applications and services.\u201d<\/p>\n Consumer privacy advocates, such as Chris Hauk from Pixel Privacy, said that \u201cthe exposure of such a huge number of credentials poses a significant risk to users who are not aware of the breach and to what extent they are exposed.\u201d Although once again, I should state that this does not appear to be a new breach of anything, per se, rather a compilation of previously compromised credentials. \u201cWhile it may be too soon to have this information included in the HaveIBeenPwned <\/a>website’s extensive database,\u201d Hauk said, \u201cI still strongly recommend that users visit the site and enter their email address to determine whether their information has been exposed in previous data breaches.\u201d<\/p>\n Hauk also recommended that consumers make use of a password manager that can provide \u201cwarnings about password reuse or if a login has been exposed in a breach,\u201c in order to \u201cmake it easy to guard against password reuse, and to update passwords when they need to be changed.”<\/p>\n