Millions of Apple, Facebook and Google users told to change passwords ‘now’

Cybersecurity discovered 30 databases containing more than 16 billion individual records, including passwords, has been stolen.

Millions of Apple, Facebook and Google users are being told to change passwords ‘now’ after the “mother of all” data breaches. Cybersecurity discovered 30 databases containing more than 16 billion individual records, including passwords, has been stolen.

“The inclusion of both old and recent infostealer logs makes this data particularly dangerous for organizations lacking multi-factor authentication or credential hygiene practices,” the researchers said.

Cybernews noted that its researchers identified a database of 184 million records that was previously uncovered in May, found by data breach hunter and security researcher Jeremiah Fowler.

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“It barely scratches the top 20 of what the team discovered,” Cybernews explained. “Most worryingly, researchers claim new massive datasets emerge every few weeks, signaling how prevalent infostealer malware truly is.”

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, according to the experts.

The leaked data includes passwords, for government accounts, Apple, Google, Facebook, Telegram and more websites.

A sample of 10,000 stolen accounts showed 220 email addresses with .gov domains, linking them to dozens of countries such as the UK, US, Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to Fowler.

CyberNews researcher Aras Nazarovas said: “Some of the exposed datasets included information such as cookies and session tokens, which makes the mitigation of such exposure more difficult.

“These cookies can often be used to bypass 2FA methods, and not all services reset these cookies after changing the account password.

“Best bet in this case is to change your passwords, enable 2FA, if it is not yet enabled, closely monitor your accounts, and contact customer support if suspicious activity is detected.”

Seb de Lemos, CEO of World Host Group, told WIRED: “It appears a fraudulent user signed up and uploaded illegal content to their server.”

One expert said ‘the only thing that makes sense’ is that the breach was the work of a cybercriminal.