Russian hacker gang accused of largest data breach known in Internet history

[Transcendence]

A Russian hacker group, dubbed “CyberVor,†has been accused of the largest data breach known in Internet history. Even if we consider four of the biggest recent password breaches— Sony, LinkedIn, eBay and Adobe—it counts 500 million accounts.

 

According to the US Security firm Hold Security, the “CyberVor†gang (“Vor†is the Russian word for thief) has stolen 1.2 billion names and passwords from approximately 420,000 Internet sites. The firm says that CyberVor didn’t channel certain websites in its hacker activities, stealing usernames, passwords, and even email addresses from small as well as large Internet sites, well-known and lesser-known sites alike.

 

“The CyberVors did not differentiate between small or large sites. They didn’t just target large companies; instead, they targeted every site that their victims visited. With hundreds of thousands of sites affected, the list includes many leaders in virtually all industries across the world, as well as a multitude of small or even personal websites,†Hold Security said in its analysis.

 

Specific websites that fell prey to the Russian hacker group are unknown at the moment, but it’s safe to say that most individuals should consider themselves a target for identity theft – just to be safe.

 

It’s situations like these that remind us that, while the Internet can be a fun place to be, it can also be dangerous and risky. While we can’t prevent hackers from doing things like this, we can be more cautious about how many websites we provide information to as well as where we plant our information across the Web.

 

Also, we request our reader to update their credentials as soon as possible. You can use uppercase letters along with lowercase letters, number and symbols to create a strong password.