149 million usernames and passwords exposed online

Millions of Gmail, Facebook, and banking accounts have leaked online after being harvested by malware.

Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered an unsecured database containing hundreds of thousands of usernames and passwords publicly accessible on the internet.

“"A database containing 149 million account usernames and passwords—including 48 million for Gmail, 17 million for Facebook, and 420,000 for the cryptocurrency platform Binance—has been removed after a researcher reported the exposure to the hosting provider,” the report says.

Fowler was unable to identify who owned or operated the database, so he notified the hosting provider, which removed the storage as it violated the terms of service.

According to Fowler, the data was likely collected using infostealing malware that infects devices and records information entered by victims on websites through techniques such as keylogging.

The risk of account compromise continues to grow as data-stealing malware increasingly automates the collection of sensitive information for cybercriminals.