News spread early Fridaythat a record-breaking data breach exposed 16 billion passwords to the world,petting eroticism including user credentials for the likes of Facebook, Google, Apple, and tons of other places. Some commentators were quick to call it the largest password leak in history, and in terms of raw records exposed, that’s mostly, technically true. However, these records did notcome from a single breach — or even a new breach. Instead, they came from many smaller ones.
Data breaches are an unfortunate reality in the digital age, and some of the breaches can be quite large. However, not every release of stolen data is the direct result of a recent cybersecurity breach. As Mashable recently reported in our countdown of the top cybersecurity breaches of 2025, hackers will often compile information from multiple prior hacks and combine them into one massive file. This is becoming a trend in the darker corners of the internet. The end result is more of a “greatest hits” rather than a new, noteworthy hack.
Such is the case here. Per Bleeping Computer, the information contained in the 16 billion records was most likely compiled from a host of prior hacks, compiled, and then released as a single set of data. It was likely circulating for some time before being compiled, and likely came from a combination of breaches, hacks, phishing scams, and malware.
This is backed up by a tweetfrom vx-underground, an educational website that specializes in malware and cybersecurity. “Someone took a bunch of existing leaks, threw it all together, and slapped a NEW stick [sic] on it.”
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
However, the existence of all this data in one spot is still rather damaging, as cybercriminals now have access to all of this data in a single spot, potentially making it much easier to concoct more effective phishing scams or engage in identity theft.
The largest single-point data breach in history is still Yahoo’s 2016 breach, when hackers stole data about all three billion of the website’s users.
Mashable is live at VidCon 2025:Check out our VidCon coveragewith your favorite content creators now.
With so many records in one spot — even if some of them are legacy data that is no longer relevant — it’s still probably a good idea to take an audit of your online services to make sure you’re protected. A good place to start is Have I Been Pwned, a website dedicated to showing data breaches. Simply go there, enter your email address(es), and the site will show you which credentials have been exposed to the public.
We recommend changing those credentials immediately if you haven’t already, and using a strong password when you do so, as they are more difficult to crack. After that, you’ll want to enable multi-factor authenticationon every account you possibly can, as the added layer helps keep criminals from stealing your life if they obtain your password. That should be the bare minimum, but there are plenty of other steps you can taketo keep yourself safe online as well.
Have a story to share about a scam or security breach that impacted you? Tell us about it. Email [email protected]with the subject line "Safety Net" or use this form.Someone from Mashable will get in touch.
Topics Cybersecurity
Best water flosser deal: Save $10 on Waterpik Cordless Pulse
DARPA reveals design of its space plane for faster, cheaper satellite launches
New research into foot
Apple rumored to go with 18:9 screen a ratio for iPhone 8
CES 2025: The best smart glasses
Saturn's hexagon
Sergey Brin's rumored sky yacht for family vacations, humanitarian aid
This new animation technique might actually make selfies interesting
Apple's newest ad makes a haunting plea to take climate change seriously
There's more to worry about at Etsy than just canceled internships
Trump's foreign aid freeze halts funding for digital diplomacy bureau
Kids' Super
New research into foot
Snap acquires drone company, may put eyes in the skies
Best robot vacuum deal: Save $500 on Roborock Qrevo Edge
Who will die in 'Game of Thrones' Season 7? Meet the 7 most likely candidates.
Rosario Dawson will not rest until she is in every superhero universe
These Australian versions of Pokémon are truly magnificent
Best robot vacuum deal: Save $500 on Roborock Qrevo Edge
At least 'Baywatch' has one thing going for it (and no, it's not The Rock)
Parler leaked verified users' private email addresses in Kanye West acquisition announcement8 spooky Airbnb and Vrbo listings just in time for HalloweenBest streaming deal: 50% off annual Paramount+ subscriptions, plus a free Fire StickDog gets super pumped every time someone scores a basketPeople are baffled after someone said eating cereal with water is better than milkYouTubers Cole and Sav pranked their daughter by pretending to disown their puppyInstagram is testing adding songs to profiles, but not externally (yet)Oprah and Prince Harry are making a mental health documentary series for AppleOprah and Prince Harry are making a mental health documentary series for AppleGoogle Assistant is supporting Breast Cancer Awareness with new featuresWordle today: Here's the answer, hints for October 20A tiny computer dreams of becoming a cowboy in this adorable animation'The Watcher's John Graff is based on grim true story of family annihilationHere's that creepy Rami Malek ad mashed with music from Jordan Peele's 'Us'Chris Hemsworth has been casually vandalising his fellow Avengers' movie postersNew iPad Pro says 'iPad Pro' on the backTheresa May attempts Brexit explainer video, gets meme'd into oblivion'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for October 19Mom faceswaps her kid with Thomas the Tank Engine, and it's incredibly cursedMeta has developed an AI translator for an unwritten language 'The Last Guardian' is a half George R.R. Martin confirms 'The Winds of Winter' will not be a happy book Explainer: What are MMX, SSE, and AVX? The return of this quiz FIFA 17's rainbow kit provokes 'gay propaganda' accusations in Russia Please, please, please stop calling white nationalists 'hipsters' This NBA coach had an inspiring response to a question about winning championships Facebook is asking users to identify 'misleading' stories The Samsung Galaxy S8 rumored to be removing the headphone jack Images of pure joy as people celebrate at Standing Rock YouTube says all those ads you watch are worth it Plenty of GIF and emoji fun with Android's latest update Nordstrom is selling a leather Get thee to a TV and watch Russell Westbrook play NBA basketball Paul Hogan from 'Crocodile Dundee' is legit baffled by new acting honour The Last Time Intel Tried to Make a Graphics Card Forbes 2016 list of highest paid YouTubers will make you weep Meet LiLou, the therapy pig here to make you feel better about flying Bill Gates' favorite books of 2016 are the most Bill Gates books ever David Beckham's tattoos turned into animated illustrations for an important reason
3.7519s , 8287.8671875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【petting eroticism】,Pursuit Information Network