Massive data breach: 150 million emails and passwords exposed, Gmail and Facebook users vulnerable
New Delhi (Uttam Hindu News): For the past few days, a news has shocked everyone in the world of technology. Around 149 million (about 15 crore) email IDs and passwords have been found floating openly on the internet. At first glance, it seems like a huge cyber attack, but the reality is a little different. According to reports, this is not fresh data stolen by hacking the server of any one company, but a huge database has been created by combining old data leaked from different websites over the past several years. In simple words, a new list has been created by collecting the data of old thefts at one place.
Gmail and Netflix users' heartbeats increase
This news has created panic among users of popular platforms like Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, and PayPal. The real danger lies with those who use the same password everywhere. Cyber experts call this a "credential stuffing attack." This means that if your password was included in a previous leak, hackers can use that same password to access your other social media or banking accounts. This means that the problem lies more with your password storage habits than with the security of the website itself.
How to know if your data has been leaked or not?
Amid this threat, the comforting fact is that you can easily determine whether your account is secure. You can use the trusted website "Have I Been Pwned," created by global cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt. This website is completely free and trusted by even the world's largest companies. All you need to do is visit this site and enter your email address. If your data has been involved in any major leak, this website will immediately tell you the year and website from which the data was leaked, and whether passwords were included.
Change your password immediately and enable two-step verification
If upon checking you find your data leaked, then instead of panicking, take some necessary steps immediately. First of all, change the password of the website from where the data was leaked. If you have kept the same password on other accounts as well, then change them immediately. Experts advise that for future security, keep different passwords on every platform and definitely turn on two-step verification (2FA). Apart from this, to avoid the hassle of remembering passwords and to create unique passwords, you can also take the help of a good paid password manager tool like '1Password'.