711 million email addresses collected via spam!

[Martin-O2]

Hey everyone, 

Worring news this week. A malware researcher has discovered what is thought to be the biggest singe spambot operation of it's kind that has scooped up over 711 million email address and passwords! It's thought these email addresses have been collected to help spread banking malware by hijacking the email accounts. 

Apparently the malware had been hidden in tiny pixel-sized images in the emails it had sent out, which were used to harvest information about recipients' computers. 

It's recommend that people change their passwords to be on the safe side. You can also check to see if your account has been targeted (but not if its been hijacked) by entering your email on the Have I Been Pwned website

Further reading here

[MI5]

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@Martin-O2 wrote:

You can also check to see if your account has been targeted (but not if its been hijacked) by entering your email on the Have I Been Pwned website

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How do we know this site isn't just collecting email addresses?

[Martin-O2]

It was created by a web security expert who has good credentials but I suppose launching such a site would be a great way to gather email addresses 

[Glory1]

Interesting @Martin-O2.

I checked the Have I Been Pwned website and apparently my account has been targeted once but no pastes. I looked through the various sites affected and I don't use any of them. The only social media site I'm on is Facebook and that purely to save my games' data. I don't post on it nor is my personal info visible to anyone but me. But I will change my password just to be sure.

Extremely worrying. You just can't be too careful when using the internet. Dontcha just love technology. It's fantastic until some criminal works out a way to use it against you!

[Martin-O2]

@Glory1 That's a good shout! It's good practice to periodically change your passwords on your main accounts. I've done mine just to be on the safe side.