a massive 16 billion password leak has been reported in 2024, affecting users from major platforms like Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and more. Here’s what we know so far:

Source-:ABC NEWS

Key Details of the Leak

• Name: "RockYou2024" (an expansion of the infamous "RockYou2021" leak)

• Size: 16 billion passwords (the largest compilation of leaked credentials ever)

• Source: Aggregated from thousands of past breaches (including LinkedIn, Dropbox, Adobe, etc.)

• Format: Plaintext & hashed passwords (many easily crackable)

• Where It’s Circulating: Dark web forums & hacker communities

• Platforms Possibly Affected-:

• Social Media: Facebook, Twitter (X), LinkedIn

• Tech Giants: Google, Apple, Microsoft

• Streaming: Netflix, Spotify

• E-commerce: Amazon, eBay

  1. Directly Exposed Data

• Email addresses (primary attack vector for phishing)

• Passwords (both plaintext and hashed, but many hashes can be cracked)

• Usernames (sometimes linked to multiple sites)

• Credit card 

• Phone numbers

• Physical addresses (from e-commerce breaches like eBay)

  Where Did This Data Come From?

  The RockYou2024 leak is an aggregation of older breaches, including:

  Source Breach	Type of Data Leaked
  LinkedIn (2012, 2021)	Emails, passwords, job titles
  Facebook (2019)	Phone numbers, names, FB IDs
  Adobe (2013)	Emails, encrypted passwords, password hints
  Dropbox (2012)	Emails, hashed passwords
  Twitter (X) (2022)	Phone numbers, emails (via API exploit)