Huge data leak dubbed the 'Mother of all Breaches'

hollydolly

hollydolly

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26 BILLION records leaked from sites including Twitter, Linkedin, and Dropbox - here's how to check if you've been affected​

  • Experts warn the massive data breach could trigger a wave of cybercrime
  • The researchers say that this could be the largest data breach to ever occur
Your personal information may have been leaked in the 'Mother of all Breaches' (MOAB), cybersecurity researchers have warned.

Over 26 billion personal records have been exposed, in what researchers believe to be the biggest-ever data leak.

Sensitive information from several sites including Twitter, Dropbox, and Linkedin was discovered on an unsecured page.

Worryingly, the researchers who found it claim this breach is extremely dangerous and could prompt a tsunami of cybercrime.

Here's how to check if you have been affected.
If you use any of these sites, then there is a good chance your details have been leaked. While some records are certainly duplicates these sites have each leaked over 100 million personal records


80309133-12992157-If_you_use_any_of_these_sites_then_there_is_a_good_chance_your_d-a-1_1705937822208.jpg

To see if your data has been affected by historic data breaches, you can use Cybernews' data leak checker.


Simply enter your email address or phone number into the search bar and click 'check now' to see whether that account information has been leaked.
Cybernews says that it is currently working on updating the tool to ensure that it will be able to check for data leaked in this latest breach.

Alternatively, Cybernews has also created a searchable list of sites compromised by the breach.

If you are particularly worried about a site you use being affected you can search the site's name to see if data has been leaked.

Bob Dyachenko, owner of SecurityDiscovery.com and researchers from Cybernews discovered the data breach on an unsecured web instance.

Likely, the owner of the massive breach will never be discovered but the researchers suggest it could be a malicious actor, data broker, or service that works with large amounts of data.

Initial studies of the data suggest that it does not come from a new breach but is actually a collection of earlier breaches.

Of the 12 terabytes of records, the researchers also note that some are almost certainly duplicates.

However, the data breach is still extremely worrying due to the sensitive nature of the information that has been released.

The researchers said: 'The dataset is extremely dangerous as threat actors could leverage the aggregated data for a wide range of attacks.'

They say that these attacks could include identity theft, sophisticated phishing schemes, targeted cyberattacks, and unauthorized access to personal and sensitive accounts.

Data has been leaked from hundreds of different sites - more than 20 of which have released hundreds of millions of records.

The biggest leak comes from Tencent's QQ, a popular Chinese messaging app which had 1.5 billion records in the breach.

 

Well pooh. That checker says my data was leaked 19 times and it is from sites that I recognize (well, some of them) so yeah, it's me. Now that said, I have not used most of them for years and I have *never* put sensitive data online, but it's still massively annoying. :mad:
 
hollydolly said:

26 BILLION records leaked from sites including Twitter, Linkedin, and Dropbox - here's how to check if you've been affected​

  • Experts warn the massive data breach could trigger a wave of cybercrime
  • The researchers say that this could be the largest data breach to ever occur
Your personal information may have been leaked in the 'Mother of all Breaches' (MOAB), cybersecurity researchers have warned.

Over 26 billion personal records have been exposed, in what researchers believe to be the biggest-ever data leak.

Sensitive information from several sites including Twitter, Dropbox, and Linkedin was discovered on an unsecured page.

Worryingly, the researchers who found it claim this breach is extremely dangerous and could prompt a tsunami of cybercrime.

Here's how to check if you have been affected.
If you use any of these sites, then there is a good chance your details have been leaked. While some records are certainly duplicates these sites have each leaked over 100 million personal records


80309133-12992157-If_you_use_any_of_these_sites_then_there_is_a_good_chance_your_d-a-1_1705937822208.jpg

To see if your data has been affected by historic data breaches, you can use Cybernews' data leak checker.


Simply enter your email address or phone number into the search bar and click 'check now' to see whether that account information has been leaked.
Cybernews says that it is currently working on updating the tool to ensure that it will be able to check for data leaked in this latest breach.

Alternatively, Cybernews has also created a searchable list of sites compromised by the breach.

If you are particularly worried about a site you use being affected you can search the site's name to see if data has been leaked.

Bob Dyachenko, owner of SecurityDiscovery.com and researchers from Cybernews discovered the data breach on an unsecured web instance.

Likely, the owner of the massive breach will never be discovered but the researchers suggest it could be a malicious actor, data broker, or service that works with large amounts of data.

Initial studies of the data suggest that it does not come from a new breach but is actually a collection of earlier breaches.

Of the 12 terabytes of records, the researchers also note that some are almost certainly duplicates.

However, the data breach is still extremely worrying due to the sensitive nature of the information that has been released.

The researchers said: 'The dataset is extremely dangerous as threat actors could leverage the aggregated data for a wide range of attacks.'

They say that these attacks could include identity theft, sophisticated phishing schemes, targeted cyberattacks, and unauthorized access to personal and sensitive accounts.

Data has been leaked from hundreds of different sites - more than 20 of which have released hundreds of millions of records.

The biggest leak comes from Tencent's QQ, a popular Chinese messaging app which had 1.5 billion records in the breach.
Click to expand...
I went into the site and gave my email and it said my data was leaked in two sites, but I never used those sites! So be careful when giving your email to check your data breach...
 
Some of those breaches may include data you entered in partner sites. Privacy notices will tell you whether they share your information. It may be they only have your email, ip or location. Or? I was tempted to start an account the other day, till I read they had over 200 partners with whom they shared my information.
 
I have a Twitter account but have not been on it in ages. I'm not on the others. I did have one weird email today but I just deleted it.
 
Another data breach, Biggest doesn't mean squat anymore because they seem to happen so often.

I thought MySpace was gone being so turn of the century. Many are optional but in today's working world they are mandatory. Businesses want a social media presence. If a serious career minded job seeker a site LinkedIn would be a must, same for Twitter/X
 
I haven't been on My Space in over a decade, thought it was defunct. I just signed up for My Fitness Pal, but it is not user friendly, so haven't been back. I used an email not connected to anything personal that I send out. My friend sends me the videos she produces for me via Drop Box and gave me access, but I don't have a Drop Box account. Never liked it. I'm safe for now according to the link provided.

Thank you for alerting us HD! @RobinWren I'm like you. Even though I read several news apps, I always find something here on the forum that I hadn't heard or read about. :)
 
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