3.2 Billion Email And Password Pairs Have Been Leaked, Here's How To Check If You Are Affected

Most data breaches target a specific organization or company. For example, when a credit card database of a hotel is breached or an email service provider is hacked, customers’ data and login credentials can be used to access more data of other customers. However, a new breach has taken this trend to a far more disturbing level.

It resulted in over 3.2 billion pairs of emails and passwords being posted online, dubbed COMB (Compilation of Many Breaches). The name is suitable because this is an amalgamation of existing data previously stolen in earlier breaches as well as leaks from firms like LinkedIn and Netflix.

The massive repository of people’s data has been posted online, but it is not the result of a new data breach. According to CyberNews, this is probably the largest compilation of hacked user credentials to be posted online. In addition, these user data contained those belonging to a 2012 data breach that involved 117 million LinkedIn accounts and Netflix login data which was posted online, partly due to users who used the same usernames and passwords for different services.

As for what you can do as a user, CyberNew notes that if you are using the same login credential for different services like Gmail and Netflix, attackers can take advantage of this data and attack more important accounts. Those affected by the COMB collection may also be targeted in a new wave of phishing attempts and email spam.

To check if your email has been compromised in this collection, head to the data-leak database of CyberNews and enter your email address.

Whether or not you have been attacked, you should pay attention and be careful with your credentials. Don’t use the same login info for all of your accounts and change your passwords periodically.

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