Crime

More Than 770 Million Emails And Passwords Exposed In Data Breach

A web security expert is calling this the largest collection of data ever loaded into his breach-checking website.

More Than 770 Million Emails And Passwords Exposed In Data Breach
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Article by Stephanie Sandoval
SMS
January 17, 2019

More than 770 million email addresses and passwords are in jeopardy after a massive data breach last month. The data got posted to a popular hacking forum. 

The breach, called Collection #1, was first discovered and reported by web security expert Troy Hunt. He said it marked the largest collection of breached data ever uploaded to his website, Have I Been Pwned?, which helps users find out if their info has been compromised.

Hunt said Collection #1 is "made up of many different individual data breaches from literally thousands of different sources."

So what can you do? Hunt recommends visiting his website, haveibeenpwned.com, and changing the passwords of any accounts that have been compromised. Going forward, cybersecurity experts recommend using a password manager to help keep your data safe.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.