Major worldwide data leak: Over 10 billion passwords shared on public forum, here's how you can stay safe from security breaches

The count of cyberattacks and malicious attempts to steal data has increased over the past five years, which has increasingly surged the risk of financial harm of not only individuals, but also governments and financial entities spread worldwide. According to cybersecurity reports, around 10 billion passwords belonging to various individuals, be it social media or email accounts, have been released on global forums. making it one of the biggest data breaches in the world till now.

Such a large bunch of passwords being accessible to hackers and scammers means that the amount of targeted attacks on account users, be it social media or emails, will increase significantly, leading to a massive privacy scare globally.

How can this recent data leak harm people?

Using these passwords, scammers and hackers can even hack into private accounts and defraud money, according to reports. The latest breach is the latest reminder and wake-up call for those who keep easy passwords for their accounts so that they are easy to type in or remember. This is an indirect message to them for bucking up and set up increasingly difficult passwords and update them time-to-time so that hackers and scammers are not able to access your private data or banking information.

Is my password safe?

If you regularly update your password at least at regular intervals, then there is not much issue around your data leaking. However, in order to be absolutely sure remember to change your password of both your social media as well as email accounts, in a bid to stay safe. Do not stop at just this and update these things regularly, as data leaks are a very regular thing and keep happening at regular intervals.

How do I stay safe from data breach?

Data breaches are very common across the world and there are various other things you need to do other than just changing your password at regular intervals. For example, you should always check the antivirus on your PC/Laptop and see if its firmware is updated to the latest version. Keeping your firewall updated is one of the most important things. Avoid using the dark web or clicking on malicious links, phishing sites and pop-up ads, which is the least you can do to save yourself from any data breach.

FAQs:

How should I keep my password strong?
A strong password is generally a combination of letters, capital and small, including special characters as well as symbols. Updating your password at regular intervals also keeps it safe from hackers.

What should I keep in mind while setting a password?
While setting a password, avoid keeping any information in it that is available on public forums, that can be used by hackers to breach through.