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Russian cyber gang steals 1.2 billion usernames and passwords, 500 million email addresses: report
nydailynews.com ^ | Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 8:34 PM | BY Sasha Goldstein

Posted on 08/05/2014 10:05:05 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Russian gang of computer hackers has gathered a staggering cache of some 1.2 billion stolen usernames and passwords, exposing vulnerability in some 400,000 websites targeted, according to a report Tuesday.

The find by Hold Security, a Milwaukee-based firm, also included some 542 million email addresses culled by the crew of twentysomethings based in a small south central Russian city, the New York Times reported.

“Hackers did not just target U.S. companies, they targeted any website they could get, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to very small websites,” Alex Holden, the founder and chief information security officer of Hold Security, told The Times. “And most of these sites are still vulnerable.”

The virtual criminals do not appear to be working for the Russian government, Holden told the paper, and the gang has not sold the information. Rather, they’ve been paid by third-party groups to use their powerful holding of online information to send spam on social media.

(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: cybercrime; hackers; passwords; russiagang; usernames

1 posted on 08/05/2014 10:05:05 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

meh...NSA still has ‘em beat by a long shot...


2 posted on 08/05/2014 10:06:08 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: BenLurkin

3 posted on 08/05/2014 10:08:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
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To: BenLurkin

our govt has done worse.....


4 posted on 08/05/2014 10:12:04 PM PDT by cherry
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To: cherry

But they don’t do it for financial gain (not that I approve of our government stealing our information). Just say’n


5 posted on 08/05/2014 10:18:22 PM PDT by doc1019
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To: BenLurkin
We're being hacked, monitored and spied upon by the U.S. government, Russian mobsters, fatcorps and annoying teenagers...

Who should we trust less?

6 posted on 08/05/2014 10:23:01 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: doc1019

You don’t think the Government monetizes any of these email addresses? If the Russians can see the earning or bargaining potential, I imagine the American Capitalist can see it too over here. Not as an up front policy, but I would be surprised if none of the intelligence employees have thought of tapping the immeasurable data wells before now.


7 posted on 08/05/2014 10:56:18 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: BenLurkin

it would be nice if the article told us of the sites


8 posted on 08/06/2014 12:33:59 AM PDT by wiggen (The teacher card. When the racism card just won't work.)
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To: wiggen
it would be nice if the article told us of the sites

Why would the Odinga Propaganda Agency do that?

9 posted on 08/06/2014 12:45:48 AM PDT by Captainpaintball (Immigration without assimilation is the death of a nation)
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To: BenLurkin

Thank goodness Obamacare mandates all medical records be kept electronically......


10 posted on 08/06/2014 5:47:19 AM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: wiggen
The article states that it's over 400,000 websites. It seems like we can assume most sites have been or could be hacked.

There used to be a great concern for security. Then, to save money, those programming jobs were sent overseas.

11 posted on 08/06/2014 5:53:46 AM PDT by grania
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