Major hack exposes 184 million Apple and Google accounts: Change your passwords NOW
A massive data breach that exposed over 184 million online accounts has been discovered, and experts are calling the stolen information a 'cybercriminal's dream.'
The trove of Apple, Facebook, and Google usernames and passwords was found online in an unmanaged server by data breach hunter and security researcher Jeremiah Fowler.
The mysterious database not only contained secure login data for millions of private citizens, but also had stolen account information connected to multiple governments around the world.
While looking at a small sample of 10,000 of these stolen accounts, Fowler found 220 email addresses with .gov domains, linking them to more than 29 countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
'This is probably one of the weirdest ones I've found in many years,' Fowler told WIRED.
'As far as the risk factor here, this is way bigger than most of the stuff I find, because this is direct access into individual accounts. This is a cybercriminal's dream working list,' the cybersecurity expert continued.
In total, Fowler discovered 47 gigabytes of data with sensitive information for accounts on various sites including Instagram, Microsoft, Netflix, PayPal, Roblox, and Discord.
The best action to take right now is to change your passwords if you use any of these platforms and also activate Two-Factor Authentication, which adds another layer of security to logging in by sending a secure code to your phone or email.
Fowler discovered the database in early May while searching the internet for vulnerabilities in major computer networks.
The unprotected database was managed by World Host Group, a web hosting and domain name provider founded in 2019.
It operates over 20 brands globally, offering cloud hosting, domain services, and technical support for businesses of all sizes.
Once Fowler confirmed that the exposed information was genuine, he reported the breach to World Host Group, which shut down access to the database.
Seb de Lemos, CEO of World Host Group, told WIRED: 'It appears a fraudulent user signed up and uploaded illegal content to their server.'
Fowler said 'the only thing that makes sense' is that the breach was the work of a cybercriminal because there's no other way to gain that much access to information from so many servers around the world.
How the 184 million accounts ended up in the open database is still a mystery. There were no identifiable owners and no purpose for the logins IDs to be there.
Fowler suspected that the person who collected the private data used a malware program called infostealer to compile this list.
Any hackers who accessed the database before its discovery could use the stolen usernames and passwords to log into accounts, potentially stealing personal data or money.
They could have also committed fraud by making unauthorized transactions or engaging in identity theft.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14753723/Cybercriminals-data-breach-184-million-Apple-Google.html