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If you’ve been ignoring those pesky "suspicious login" alerts in your inbox, now might be the time to pay attention.
Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered an unprotected online database in May, exposing over 184 million records — including email addresses, passwords and login links — stored in plain text. The leaked data is tied to major platforms like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft along with government and financial services.
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Fowler is usually able to trace an exposed database back to its source — spotting breadcrumbs like company names, employee records or customer information. But this time the trail ran dry. There were no telltale signs of who the data belonged to or how it ended up online, making the breach even more unsettling.
“As far as the risk factor here, this is way bigger than most of the stuff I find, because this is direct access into individual accounts,” Fowler told Wired. “This is a cybercriminal’s dream working list.”
The breach could fuel fraud, identity theft and more. While data leaks might feel like background noise, ignoring this one could come back to bite you — especially if your Netflix password doubles as your online banking login. Here’re some smart steps you can take to keep your information safe.
The cloud comes at a cost
In a 10,000-record sample of the breached data, Fowler found hundreds of compromised accounts including major consumer platforms like Netflix, PayPal, Amazon and Apple. A keyword search revealed 187 mentions of “bank” and 57 of “wallet,” suggesting the breach may have exposed financial data, too. Perhaps most concerning was the discovery of 220 email addresses associated with .gov domains, raising broader national security implications.
The scale of cyberattacks isn’t just growing but evolving in ways that are becoming harder to contain, track and remediate.
Take crypto exchange Coinbase: On May 11, the company received a ransom email after bad actors bribed overseas support agents to steal internal information.
“These insiders abused their access to customer support systems to steal the account data for a small subset of customers,” Coinbase wrote in a blog post.
While the company says it didn’t pay, the breach could cost up to $400 million to fix.
Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Protecting yourself
Protecting your personal information online doesn’t require a tech degree — but it does take intention.
“This is perhaps a kick in the pants for some people who’ve been a little bit lax in doing some of the things we talk about,” Teresa Murray, who directs the Consumer Watchdog office of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, told WFLA News Channel 8.
Murray suggests changing your passwords now, updating them regularly and never reusing the same one, or even a similar one, across multiple sites. Your primary email and financial accounts should have strong, unique passwords that aren’t used anywhere else.
Murray also recommends freezing your credit files with all three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — and leaving them frozen until you need to make a major purchase. This won’t affect your credit score, but it will make it much harder for criminals to open new accounts in your name.
Another step you can take is to enable multi-factor authentication wherever it’s available. This adds an extra layer of protection, even if a hacker does get their hands on your login credentials. You can also use free tools like Google’s Password Checkup to see if your information has been compromised in a breach. If it has, update your login credentials as soon as possible.
There are also paid tools that offer extra layers of protection, like Norton 360 with Genie. Their service includes an assistant that answers any questions you have about online fraud. Even better, Norton’s Genie tool uses AI to detect if websites you visit are scams in real time, and can answer questions you have about them.
Norton may also be able to warn you if you have already been the victim of cybercrime. They offer dark web monitoring to alert you if your personal information has been leaked to the dark web, which contains sites that are only accessible with specific internet browsing tools. Norton 360 can check for suspicious content while you browse online for potential threats, scams, hackers, viruses, malware and ransomware.
Finally, another way to easily protect yourself is to sign up for transaction alerts from your credit card provider, and make sure your contact details are up to date. Murray’s best practices for internet password safety can also be easily applied to your banking practices.
When it comes to cybersecurity, vigilance can pay dividends for your peace of mind.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
