Gmail users have been urged to review their accounts after reports that over 183 million passwords were stolen in a major data breach.
The breach was revealed by Australian cyber expert Troy Hunt, who described it as a “vast corpus” of data totaling 3.5 terabytes—equivalent to 875 full-length HD movies.
Hunt explained that the breach affects all major email providers, not just Gmail, including Outlook, Yahoo, and others. “They’re from everywhere you could imagine, but Gmail always features heavily,” he told the Daily Mail.
The breach originally occurred in April but was only recently disclosed on Hunt’s Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) website. The compromised data included 183 million unique email addresses, the websites they were associated with, and the corresponding passwords.
Hunt emphasized that this was not a single breach but a compilation of “stealer logs”, data files created and collected by malware. “Stealer logs are more of a firehose of data constantly spewing personal info all over the place,” he wrote. He added that once stolen, the data often replicates across multiple channels and platforms.
He urged users to check if their accounts were compromised by visiting the Have I Been Pwned website. Users can enter their email address, click “Check”, and see a list of breaches affecting their accounts.
