Russian hackers reveal details of 5 million Gmail accounts.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BANGALORE: Attention Gmail account users! Your account may have been compromised
According to a report that appeared in RIA Novosti, a Russian newswire, hackers have dumped more than 5 million Gmail usernames and passwords in a Russian Bitcoin forum Wednesday night.
The report also confirms that a majority of the usernames and passwords belong to users speaking English, Spanish and Russian. More startling is the revelation that out of this 60% of the accounts are still very much active.
Business Insider reports that Gmail Users need not go frantic. As per their report a few users of the Bitcoin Forum found their own Gmail account details in the site and noted that they had changed it long back, or the accounts already deactivated.
That gmail dump looks very old folks. Can confirm a dummy account w/ password that was already changed twice. Dump has original pw.
— Ben Ten (0xA) (@Ben0xA) September 10, 2014
@troyhunt I don’t think this dump originates from gmail/Google. It’s most likely compiled from multiple sources
— Janne Ahlberg (@JanneFI) September 10, 2014
Two Reddit users came with Tweets saying that they found their Gmail Usernames in the forum but not their password. This has led many tech enthusiasts to believe that the passwords got leaked through third-party websites that use Gmail Account for signing up.
According to a tech expert who talked to Mashable, hackers dumped the list as a strategy to grab attention: “This proves that the hackers hacked into some other service where Gmail address (or other email addresses) are used and got the password of that service not Gmail password.”
Google’s official spokesperson has come out with a statement that the tech giant has no evidence as of now to corroborate that Gmail servers have come under attack.
Even though this piece of information gives confidence to those who found their usernames in the database, for those who doesn’t manage passwords properly this is the time to make it stronger. Many Gmail users have a tendency to reuse the same password after a while, for them this database will prove dangerous.
If you feel unsafe and think that your Gmail password might have leaked, then don’t wait, visit isleaked.com/en and check for your account in the list. If you find it there, without waiting a minute head to Google’s Safety Center and make relevant changes in your password.
It is highly recommended to have a two-step verification process for all Gmail accounts because even if your password is leaked the hacker cannot access your account until they get the secret password sent to your phone.