Massive Data Breach: 16 billions of passwords of Google, Gmail, Facebook, Instagram and others services leaked

By Frank TSAGUE

Cybersecurity researchers came up with a startling finding that represents the largest data breach in history. This breach has compromised 16 billion login credentials along with passwords all coming from Facebook, Google, Instagram, Gmail, and other services. The breach was discovered while an investigation was being conducted at the beginning of the year and it is thought that the breach could be caused by several info stealer operations that are working in tandem. The Cybernews team carried out research and found the largest dataset that contains the credentials of billions of users of various platforms. Deeply reasons stated by the experts says that such massive leaks can be the potential ignition to phishing campaigns, become the source of hijacking of accounts, ransomware attacks, and business email compromise (BEC) incidents¹. While this may not mean much to most people, one need only to imagine the consequences of such a breach to appreciate the magnitude of this discovery: names, photos, bank statements, messages, photos, social security numbers, geolocation data, secret codes, confidential documents, access to defense software, all available on the dark web for nefarious purposes.

Former NSA cybersecurity specialist, Evan Dornbush, stated that hard passwords are of no use once the criminals have leaked the storage database: “It doesn’t matter how long or complex your password is. When an attacker compromises the database that stores it, they have it.”². The increasing necessity of good password management and hygiene practices has been highlighted in this situation. Dornbush went on to say that reusing one password for several accounts makes the problem bigger as it allows hackers to take the stolen credentials trickery through several platforms.

One can argue that the total number of internet users worldwide is around 5.5 billion and the breach can thus affect several accounts of every individual. Cybersecurity authorities are very concerned and strongly advise to change passwords everywhere online without delay, turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) as much as possible, and use password managers that will create different and strong ones for each service³. Using AI-based instruments, including those algorithms that rephrase content while still retaining the original idea, may amplify the efforts of companies in disseminating the provisions of security.

This event demonstrates the very urgent need for defending digital space through active strategies. The constantly changing threats have made it very difficult for traditional cybersecurity methods to work.

1. https://cybernews.com/security/billions-credentials-exposed-infostealers-data-leak/ ↩︎
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/06/20/16-billion-apple-facebook-google-passwords-leaked—change-yours-now/ ↩︎
3. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/16-billion-passwords-leaked-on-internet-what-you-need-to-know-to-protect-your-facebook-instagram-gmail-and-other-accounts/articleshow/121967191.cms ↩︎