Record Credential Leak Exposes 1.3 Billion Passwords
German headlines shifted to public safety with an arrest in the Fabian killing as Berlin advances plans to shutter the Tegel reception center.
Overview
- Security researcher Troy Hunt indexed the trove on Have I Been Pwned, tallying nearly two billion email addresses and 1.3 billion passwords, including 625 million not previously known.
- Officials and experts advise checking exposure on HIBP, changing any affected or reused passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and using a password manager.
- Hunt says the dataset aggregates credentials from many older breaches rather than a direct attack on a single provider, even though hundreds of millions of Gmail addresses appear.
- In the Fabian murder case, police arrested 29-year-old Gina H., the former partner of the boy’s father, with the victim’s mother expressing shock and relief through her attorney.
- Berlin police are investigating a suspected group sexual assault on a 17-year-old in Hellersdorf after the victim was found badly injured.