One of the biggest leaks in history. Up to 3.2 billion email addresses and passwords have been leaked

This week was one of the biggest leaks in the history of the Internet. The Free Press Journal reports that more than 3.2 billion e-mails and passwords have been leaked. It is believed that this data was collected from several leaks, creating one huge database. According to this assumption, the database also got its name – Compilation of Many Breaches (COMB), which in translation means File of multiple leaks.

Based on an analysis by Cybernews, logins leaked from popular services such as Netflix, Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. The portal estimates that more than 200 million Gmail addresses and 450 million Yahoo addresses have leaked. Up to 70% of Internet users were probably affected.

Data from the COMB database can be misused in various types of attacks

This leak poses a high risk to users who use the same login information on multiple sites. There is a risk of so-called credential stuffing attacks, in which attackers try to log in with leaked data on various sites. Therefore, if a user uses the same credentials on multiple sites and one of them becomes the victim of an attack, an attacker could gain control of multiple of his accounts in the future.

In addition, users whose data has been leaked may be the victim of spear-phishing phishing attacks. In this type of attack, the user receives an e-mail that looks trustworthy. However, it may contain malware or it may seek to solicit money and personal information from the user. There is also a risk that leaked email addresses will receive a lot of spam.

How do I know if my data has leaked and how do I protect myself from other threats?

You can find a free tool on the Cybernews website to check if your email address was part of a leak. If so, change your passwords on all the sites where you use this address.

In general, it is also recommended that you change your passwords regularly. It’s also very important that you create unique passwords for each account.