Security & Privacy + Security News
Collection #1 (and #2–5) are the latest massive password dumps
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by
Joshua Long
“Collection #1” is the nickname of the latest dump of e-mail addresses and passwords—a stockpile of login credentials from a variety of confirmed and alleged data breaches. Reportedly, multiple other “collections” have also been discovered.
What’s included in this data dump?
Collection #1 is reportedly one of the largest user credential data dumps to date, collecting e-mail addresses and passwords from thousands of sources, including previously known data breaches and some new alleged breaches. By the numbers, the dump includes roughly:
- 2.7 billion total records
- 1.2 billion unique e-mail address and password combinations
- 773 million unique e-mail addresses
- 21 million unique, plaintext passwords
As mentioned, there are other “collections” of data that were found as well, named Collection #2 through #5, “AP MYR&ZABUGOR #2,” and “ANTIPUBLIC #1.” The latter is presumably the so-called Anti Public Combo List, an old dump from December 2016.
Troy Hunt, the world’s foremost expert on data breaches, has assessed Collection #1, but has not yet analyzed the additional collections to determine their scope and significance.
Was my e-mail address or password included?
Check out our related article, How to Avoid Getting Hacked After Data Breaches, to find out whether your e-mail address or password has ended up in Collection #1 or any other major dumps or breaches.
How can I learn more?
For more about Collection #1, check out Troy Hunt’s article, The 773 Million Record “Collection #1” Data Breach.
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