Massive data breach exposes 16 billion passwords: Change your passwords now!
A massive cybersecurity breach compromised over 16 billion passwords in Google, Apple, and Facebook.
After a massive cybersecurity breach revealed that over 16 billion passwords had been compromised. The compromised platforms were Apple, Facebook, Google among several other services including government platforms. Forbes believes this might be one of the biggest data breaches ever.
According to Cybernews, criminals have now access to personal information and can use it for account takeover, identity theft, and highly targeted phishing. “This is not just a leak—it’s a blueprint for mass exploitation," they wrote.
What's next after the data security breach?
According to Paolo Ardoino, the chief executive officer of major crypto company Tether, it is time to discard the cloud as the "storage place" for passwords. As he stated on his social media, “It’s time to ditch the cloud,” he wrote in an X post, alongside an ad for "PearPass", a password manager.
"The cloud has failed us. Again," he stated.
What to do to protect yourself from the data security breach?
Here is everything you need to do immediately to protect yourself from the data breach involving 16 billion passwords.
- Change your passwords: While this may seem obvious, changing all of your passwords is one of the most important steps to take to ensure no one can access your information.
- Use strong and complex passwords: It is very important to have a different password for each platform and to avoid using personal details, such as birthdays, as passwords. They should be long and include a combination of different characters, including numbers and symbols.
- Activate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Multi-factor authentication is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself and your information, as it requires more than just your password to access your accounts. This could be a code sent either to your phone, email or through an authentication app.
