The Cybernews investigative team and SecurityDiscovery.com owner, Bob Dyachenko, reported that more than 26 billion data records were hacked in what is known as the "Mother of All Breaches" (MOAB). They explained that the security breach affected LinkedIn, X, Dropbox and Telegram accounts, as well as data published in Canva and Adobe:
Mother of all breaches
The Big Leak : 26 Billion Records – This is Not a Joke!!
Billions of passwords and credentials have been exposed in what we call the "Mother of All Breaches."
Data from Twitter, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Adobe, Canva and Telegram is part of the breach pic.twitter.com/oT17RNlXzF
— Vishal Chawla (@BluOceanCyber) January 22, 2024
A data broker is suspected of being behind the "mother of all breaches"
The leak contains 12 terabytes of records and, although the person behind this attack is not known, experts believe that given its nature, it could be a malicious actor or a data broker:
Threat actors could leverage the aggregated data for a wide range of attacks, including identity theft, sophisticated phishing schemes, targeted cyberattacks, and unauthorized access to personal and sensitive accounts.
However, it's not all bad news. The cybersecurity agency assured that much of the leaked data comes from other computer attacks. In these hacks, many users used the same username and password for several platforms. ESET's global cybersecurity advisor, Jake Moore, spoke with Forbes about the importance of protecting one's personal information:
We should never underestimate what cybercriminals can achieve with such limited information. Victims need to be aware of the consequences of stolen passwords and make the necessary security updates in response. This includes changing their passwords, being alert to phishing emails following the breach, and ensuring all accounts, whether affected or not, are equipped with two-factor authentication.
