23 June 2025
The recent revelation of the world's largest data breach, exposing a staggering 16 billion credentials and passwords, underscores the persistent vulnerabilities in global digital security.
Researchers at Cybernews have issued a warning to internet users to urgently update their passwords and enhance their cybersecurity practices after uncovering what they describe as a massive cache of potentially accessible sensitive data. The investigation revealed that a collection of 30 datasets, harvested from malicious software known as ‘infostealers’ and data leaks, briefly exposed approximately 16 billion login records — though the exact number of unique accounts remains unclear due to overlapping data.
The datasets, which were accessible on remote servers for a limited time before being removed, are believed to contain credentials for popular services such as Facebook, Apple, and Google, though no centralised breach has been confirmed at those companies themselves. Ukrainian cybersecurity expert Bob Diachenko, who uncovered the data, explained that he was able to download the files during the window of exposure and plans to notify affected individuals and organisations. He emphasised that analysing such enormous datasets takes time.
Cybersecurity specialists caution, however, that much of this data was likely already in circulation and may include duplicate entries.
