14 DAY TRIAL // A database containing usernames and passwords for almost five million Google accounts emerged on a Russian forum late on September 9.
The user dumping the information on Bitcoin Security board uses the online alias “tvskit” and says that although not all the entries are valid, more than 60% of them should be working; all passwords are provided in plain text.
It is unclear how the information was collected, but the most plausible theory is that the attacker(s) gathered the details through phishing and different forms of data exfiltration, such as the use of infostealing malware.
Users who want to verify if their address is included in this database can do it through the isleaked.com website, which parsed the information and offers search capabilities.
The total number of entries in the database is 4,929,090, and it appears that most of the accounts belong to speakers of Russian, English and Spanish.
Any individual impacted by this leak should immediately change the access password.
Turning on two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra security against fraudulent account access is also a good measure, regardless if the account has been compromised or not.
The collection of data also includes addresses from Yandex and Mail.ru email services, and according to Russian publication CNews, there are several thousands of them.
The publication also says that this leak is the third one this week, 4.6 million credentials of Mail.ru users and 1.26 Yandex accounts having been dumped in a public online location prior to this incident.
“tvskit” is either the one gathering these details or is acquainted with the perpetrator and has been involved in all three leaks, to an unknown degree.