Biggest theft in history: Hacker publishes list of 10 billion passwords

The package, which contains around 10 billion passwords stolen from numerous online services, has been available for sale on the internet since July 4. Cyber ​​NewsThis The largest compilation of leaked passwords in historyuntil now.

The list found on a hacker forum called “RockYou2024” is exactly 9,948,575,739 passwordsappears in plain text without any type of encryption. The huge file contains codes used by internet users in every corner of the planet.

The package is believed to be an updated version of the “RockYou2021” that was leaked three years ago. More than 8.4 billion stolen access credentialsThis was an extension of the 2009 RockYou breach (hence the name of the compilation) which resulted in 32 million accounts being compromised.

As a result, the package, which includes nearly 10 billion passwords, may be the result of work carried out for more than twenty years. It is estimated that leaks were collected from more than 4,000 databasesAccording to the report.

Should I be worried?

Experts interviewed by the publication noted that the leaked list contained a large number of broken passwords, fragments of text collected from various sources and not related to usernames or profiles. In principle, such information should not be useful for account hacking..

However, the report underlines the possibility of this data being used in brute force attacks. The method consists of the following: Test different password and username combinations to prevent unauthorized accessespecially on systems that are not protected against such cyber attacks.

It’s important to remember that there’s no 100% effective way to protect your credentials, but make sure to create strong, unique passwords for each account, enable two-factor authentication, and use a password manager. Help reduce the risk of unauthorized access.