NEW DELHI: Russian hackers have leaked the email IDs and passwords of as many as 4.93 million Google accounts.
The same Google account password is used across all Google products, such as Gmail, Drive, Plus, YouTube, Maps etc.
The account details have been posted on bitcoin forum btcsec.com by a user named Tvskit.
On the forum, Tvskit has said that approximately 60% of the passwords are still active.
READ ALSO: Scientists hack into Gmail with 92% accuracy
Google in a blog post, however, refuted the claim and said that only 2% of the passwords still work
and also said that its automated anti-hijacking systems would have blocked many of the login attempts.
While acknowledging the leak, Google said that this is not due to a breach in its own systems.
It said: "Often, these credentials are obtained through a combination of other sources.
For instance, if you reuse the same username and password across websites, and one of those websites gets hacked,
your credentials could be used to log into the others. Or attackers can use malware or phishing schemes to capture login credentials."
src
The same Google account password is used across all Google products, such as Gmail, Drive, Plus, YouTube, Maps etc.
The account details have been posted on bitcoin forum btcsec.com by a user named Tvskit.
On the forum, Tvskit has said that approximately 60% of the passwords are still active.
READ ALSO: Scientists hack into Gmail with 92% accuracy
Google in a blog post, however, refuted the claim and said that only 2% of the passwords still work
and also said that its automated anti-hijacking systems would have blocked many of the login attempts.
While acknowledging the leak, Google said that this is not due to a breach in its own systems.
It said: "Often, these credentials are obtained through a combination of other sources.
For instance, if you reuse the same username and password across websites, and one of those websites gets hacked,
your credentials could be used to log into the others. Or attackers can use malware or phishing schemes to capture login credentials."
src
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.....The news pertaining leakages of online email details would have apparently worried users about the safety of their own login details. A tool isleaked.com has been devised to verify if one's Gmail login details have been leaked or not. The tool is also said to have an option for the users to secure their email username and password.... |