To protect our accounts on the Internet, something essential is to have good passwords. They are the main security barrier we have. When a problem arises, when those keys are exposed, all our information can be compromised. In this article, we echo what the worst password leaks have been in this year 2020.
Worst password leaks of 2020
This year has brought some very important security attacks that have taken advantage especially of the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in browsing habits, remote work or the use of certain equipment. Attacks that often aim precisely to steal passwords.
This is something that can happen at the level of individual users. For example, a Phishing attack that seeks to steal the password to the bank or a keylogger that collects passwords for social networks and other Internet services. However, sometimes we can find a large breach, a leak that affects a company or organization.
These password leaks that affect a large company can put both the security and privacy of the employees themselves, as well as that of the users who use that service at risk.
Dashlane is one of the most important password managers. He has created a list of the most important leaks that have occurred this year.
Twitter workers, the most important attack
One of the negative points in terms of cybersecurity that this 2020 has left us was the leakage of passwords that affected workers of the social network Twitter . They were victims of Phishing attacks and the attackers were able to access multiple verified accounts of people like Bacak Obama, Elon Musk or Bill Gates.
Quickly the social network, once they saw the problem, they got down to work to identify the threat and correct it. All workers had to change the password for security.
There was also a major leak that affected Zoom . It should be mentioned that this program has gained a lot of importance in recent months due to the boom in communications through the network, thus avoiding physical contact.
In April, some 500,000 Zoom accounts were put up for sale on the Dark Web. They used different methods and bots to achieve their goal. Thus, they were able to steal weak keys that were used by users. We already know that creating strong passwords is vital.
The tourism sector also suffered a major blow with password theft. EasyJet , one of the most popular low cost airlines in Europe, saw millions of emails and itineraries compromised by an attack. Also the theft of data from some 9,000 bank cards.
Marriott , one of the largest hotel chains globally, also suffered another data breach that affected more than 5 million customers.
Other significant password theft and data breaches this year that Dashlane has included on its list include Experian , which affected more than 24 million users; Nintendo , which affected about 300,000 users; Zoosk , which suffered a cyber attack last May and affected the data of some 200 million users; Minted , with about 5 million affected.
To avoid all this it is essential to properly protect our accounts. Many times hackers manage to attack the registries for mistakes we have made. We must generate keys that are strong and secure, use two-factor authentication, and also have password managers that can help us.