The cybersecurity researchers have unveiled what is being labelled as the ‘Mother of all Breaches,’ exposing more than 26 billion personal records. Private information from numerous prominent websites, including X, Dropbox, and LinkedIn, has been found on an unsecured page.
The breach, discovered by Bob Dyachenko of SecurityDiscovery.com alongside researchers from CyberNews, reveals that over 280 million Twitter records and 250 million LinkedIn records were compromised. Other globally popular platforms affected include MyFitnessPal, Canva, MySpace, Adobe, and Deezer.
The researchers stumbled upon an unsecured database containing a massive 12 terabytes of data, including sensitive personal details. This alarming breach could lead to a surge in cybercrime activities such as identity theft, sophisticated phishing schemes, targeted cyberattacks, and unauthorized access to personal and sensitive accounts.
The compromised records include 1.5 billion from Tencent’s QQ, 504 million from Weibo, 360 million from MySpace, 281 million from Twitter, 251 million from LinkedIn, and 220 million from AdultFriendFinder. Astonishingly, the leak also encompasses records from various government organizations across the United States, Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Turkey, and others.
While a substantial portion of the exposed data appears to be compiled records from prior breaches, the scale of this breach is unparalleled. In 2019, Verifications.io experienced a significant breach, exposing almost one billion records, marking it as one of the most substantial breaches of that time.
The revelation underscores the growing threat of cyber attacks and the need for enhanced cybersecurity measures to protect individuals and organizations from the devastating consequences of such breaches. Authorities are investigating the matter, and affected individuals are urged to take immediate steps to secure their online accounts and monitor for any suspicious activities.
