An information security expert explained the leak of 16 billion passwords from Apple and Google

Dmitry Marichev, an expert at the Solar 4RAYS center, commented on a massive leak involving 16 billion Apple and Google accounts. In conversation with aif.ru On Friday, June 20, he stated that the number of unique entries in such sinks is difficult to estimate, most likely, it is much smaller.

"The Cybernews article <...> talks about the lack of an opportunity to effectively compare different data sets <...> and the researchers' confidence that overlapping records are definitely present," he noted.

The expert cited the spread of stylers as the reason for the increase in such leaks — in the first quarter of 2025, they accounted for 35% of threats to Russian companies. The leak, according to Marichev, also included substitution data (a type of cyberattack that uses credentials from hacked databases) and reassembled drains.

He recalled the importance of unique passwords and two-factor authentication to protect accounts.

Key Decoupling: Hackers have intensified password-matching attacks

Most of the criminals worked from the USA, China and Russia.

On June 19, Forbes reported that 16 billion passwords from Apple and Google accounts had been leaked online. The leak affected data from accounts of many online services - from Apple and Google to Telegram, GitHub, social networks, VPNs and government resources. A significant portion of the compromised usernames and passwords are unique and have not been found in previous leaks. Vilius Petkauskas, head of the Cybernews team, said that this is not just a leak, it is a plan for malicious use, writes NSN.

On the same day, Igor Bederov, director of the T.Hunter Investigation Department, urged not to panic over the leak. According to him, changing passwords and enabling 2FA will reduce risks by 90%, writes RT. It is worth using unique password combinations of 12 characters or more with numbers, letters and special characters, notes 360.ru .

Also on June 19, Kaspersky Lab recommended regularly updating passwords and software on devices. To protect yourself from hackers, it is also important to enable two-factor authentication, not download software from unverified sources, and use antivirus software, the Moscow City News Agency notes.