Huge data leaks with data from 773 million email accounts were discovered by security researcher Troy Hunt.
Τfound the data in an account of the cloud service MEGA, in a folder named "Collection # 1" size 87GB. There he found data on 773 million email accounts and more than 21 million passwords.
"This huge collection of data was based on long-term breaches, so some of the account information may not be up to date. However, it is no secret that, despite the growing awareness of the danger, people do not change passwords and do not avoid reusing them on multiple sites.
In addition, this collection can easily be converted into a single email list and corresponding access items. If this happens, then the attackers only have to create a relatively simple software that will check if the passwords correspond to the emails.
The consequences of accessing the account can range from very effective phishing, as criminals will have the ability to automatically send malicious emails to a victim's contact list, to targeted attacks aimed at stealing all of the victims's digital identity or money, and "undermining the data of their social networks", commented Sergey Lozhkin, security expert of Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky invites those who use their email information and other online activities to take the following steps as soon as possible:
• Check if your email has been exposed to the following link https://haveibeenpwned.com/.
• Change the passwords for your most important or sensitive accounts (such as online banking, online payments, or social media networks), preferably through password management software.
• Apply two-factor authentication where possible.
