What are Password Leaks and Data Breaches?
Password leaks and data breaches are security incidents where personal or confidential information – such as passwords, email addresses, or credit card data – falls into the wrong hands, either unintentionally or through criminal attacks.
The Scale of the Problem
The numbers are staggering: In 2023 alone, 3,205 publicly reported data breaches were recorded, affecting 8.2 billion records. That's 22 million records per day. The biggest leaks in history:
Yahoo (2013-2014): 3 billion accounts
Facebook (2019): 533 million users
LinkedIn (2021): 700 million profiles
Twitter (2022): 200 million email addresses
Adobe (2013): 153 million users
How Data Leaks Occur
Data leaks don't happen by accident. They are the result of targeted attacks using various methods:
SQL Injection: Poorly programmed websites allow attackers to directly manipulate databases
Phishing: Employees are deceived into revealing access credentials
Malware: Malicious software collects login data from infected devices
Insider Threats: Malicious or negligent employees
Unpatched Vulnerabilities: Known security gaps that are not closed
Cloud Misconfigurations: Misconfigured databases are publicly accessible
Password Leaks
A password leak means that user credentials and passwords (usually from a company's database) have been stolen and often published or sold on the internet. Such leaks occur through hacker attacks or poorly secured systems.
Example: An online shop gets hacked, and thousands of customers' login data ends up on the dark web. Criminals can try to use this data to gain access to other accounts – especially if users use the same password multiple times.
Data Breaches
A data breach is a more general term for incidents where sensitive information is lost, stolen, or accidentally made public. This can happen through human error, technical failures, or cyber attacks.
Example: An employee accidentally sends an Excel spreadsheet with customer data to the wrong recipient – this is a data breach, even if there's no malicious attack behind it.
Why is this problematic?
Identity Theft
Stolen data can be used to impersonate someone else.
Fraud
Credit card data or access to online accounts can be misused.
Loss of Trust
Companies affected by data breaches often lose their customers' trust.
What Can I Do?
Use unique and strong passwords for each online account.
Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible.
Regularly check if your data has been compromised – e.g., on https://haveibeenpwned.com.
Change passwords immediately when you learn of a leak.
💡Tip: A password manager helps create and manage secure passwords.
Password Check
Check if your password has appeared in known data leaks and should no longer be used. The check is performed securely using the 'Have I Been Pwned' database.
💡Privacy Notice: The entered password is guaranteed not to be transmitted or stored. The input is absolutely safe. After entering, it will show how often the password was found and published in data thefts.