The monumental Collection #1 data breach that hit the headlines last week shows just how vulnerable people are to data breaches.
The incident, known as the Collection #1 breach, involved what many say is the biggest ever dump of hacked information on the internet. Hundreds of millions of email addresses and passwords that are thought to have been taken from a number of different hacks were published online. Criminals may have been using the information to break into people’s accounts for years.
The sheer volume of the Collection #1 data is a stark reminder as to just how vulnerable people are nowadays.
The Collection #1 data breach
The Collection #1 data breach as it’s being known is a vast wealth of email addresses and passwords that are thought to have been taken from numerous different hacks and attacks. This data was published on the internet last week.
The size of the file is said to be around 87gb. Criminals can use software to force their way into the accounts of people across countless different platforms by using the credentials that have been leaked.
With most people often reusing their credentials to login across multiple platforms, it isn’t hard for criminals to cause serious damage when they get access to people’s accounts.
Is Collection #1 just the beginning?
Many believe that the Collection #1 breach revealed last week is merely the beginning.
The person behind the leak of the data claims to have a trove of login information ten-times the size of Collection #1. There are thought to be several collections that may be for sale for criminals to use, and the size of one of the collections alone is reportedly over 5000gb.
This really is a massive wake-up call, and people should act as soon as possible or they may fall victim to an easy hack. We’re talking potentially billions of email addresses and passwords being made available for criminals to use and abuse. These data sets are relatively cheap for criminals to buy, and it only takes an organised group with the know-how and technology to use the data to do some serious damage.
You may recall the WannaCry attack from summer 2017. They targeted older and outdated systems, and they wreaked havoc with out NHS, and literally put lives at risk. The consequences of Collection #1 could be similar.