Researchers have confirmed what is likely to be the largest data breach ever, with an almost incredulous 16 billion login credentials, including passwords for Apple, Facebook, Google and others, exposed.
The article on Forbes references an original piece by Cybernews which first broke the story in May of this year, when it reported that its research team discovered a plethora of supermassive datasets, housing billions upon billions of login credentials. From social media and corporate platforms to VPNs and developer portals, no stone was left unturned.
So far, they’ve discovered 30 exposed datasets containing from tens of millions to over 3.5 billion records each. In total, the researchers uncovered an unimaginable 16 billion records.
None of the exposed datasets were reported previously, bar one: in late May, Wired magazine reported a security researcher discovering a “mysterious database” with 184 million records. It barely scratches the top 20 of what the team discovered. Most worryingly, researchers claim new massive datasets emerge every few weeks, signaling how prevalent infostealer malware truly is.