Speaker 1: Earning news has emerged this afternoon that sixteen billion login
Speaker 1: credentials on computers and apps and and other various forms
Speaker 1: of software have been leaked in a new mass cybersecurity threat.
Speaker 1: Sources are indicating this is the biggest breach of its
Speaker 1: kind and it's likely going to affect us just everyday Australians.
Speaker 1: If you're a user of Google, if your is of
Speaker 1: Apple Meta which owns Facebook and Instagram, this may well
Speaker 1: affect you. Trevor Long is our tech expert from EFTM
Speaker 1: dot com. Great website it joins us. Trevor, should we
Speaker 1: be worried about this?
Speaker 2: I think we should. Everyone should realize that with sixteen
Speaker 2: billion usernames and passwords and other details available to in
Speaker 2: one source, so this is a discovery of basically a
Speaker 2: big bucket of a lot of information. And this is
Speaker 2: not one hack. I should be very clear, and it's
Speaker 2: not Google got hacked or Facebook or Apple. This is
Speaker 2: true malware and different means of obtaining this information. It's
Speaker 2: all in one place, which means a hacker, a criminal,
Speaker 2: a scammer can act that information and potentially scam you
Speaker 2: or access other sites and other services you use where frankly,
Speaker 2: we all know you're using the same password.
Speaker 1: So would somebody would criminals be then able to sell
Speaker 1: this information on sell it?
Speaker 2: This would be it's basically a supermarket for the underworld.
Speaker 2: They would come along and say I would like one
Speaker 2: hundred million addresses please, and they will either go and
Speaker 2: then target those people with scams, or they will target
Speaker 2: those people with what's called credential stuffing. So that means,
Speaker 2: let's say they obtained your details from shop A that
Speaker 2: was hacked ten years ago, and there's your username of password.
Speaker 2: They'll now take that use ermer password and try and
Speaker 2: log into shop B or bank A and start trying
Speaker 2: to access your online identity in other places and therefore
Speaker 2: taking money from you or your identity. And that's the
Speaker 2: real risk here, is that people are being defrauded of
Speaker 2: their identity and their money through a breach I didn't
Speaker 2: even know about it.
Speaker 1: Is there any way? Is there any way you get enough?
Speaker 1: You're a victim?
Speaker 2: Not really? No, I mean in reality, these researchers say
Speaker 2: that the data day saw was only available or exposed
Speaker 2: briefly to them, which means that the people that held
Speaker 2: the data have locked it away again. You know, are
Speaker 2: more securely. Weirdly, it's securely locked away from the researchers,
Speaker 2: so we don't know who's on the list. We don't
Speaker 2: know how many people are involved with sixteen billion logins.
Speaker 2: You have to assume it is millions and millions and
Speaker 2: hundreds of millions of people globally. So we all have
Speaker 2: to take these moments and go right. I need to
Speaker 2: take a few things seriously. I need to make sure
Speaker 2: my email, my bank, and maybe my social media and
Speaker 2: those shops that you log onto regularly are all locked
Speaker 2: down with a new and secure password.
Speaker 1: And that password, so go through that process now. But
Speaker 1: that password should be different from software to software, from
Speaker 1: Facebook to your Google account to a shop.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. So look, it's not the best security advice that
Speaker 2: I give. Where I say, I don't mind if you
Speaker 2: use the same password for Facebook and Twitter and social media, fine,
Speaker 2: but do not use the same password you use for
Speaker 2: your bank anywhere else. And do not use the same
Speaker 2: password you use for your email anywhere else because those
Speaker 2: two things. Bank obviously they take your money. If bag
Speaker 2: it into your email, bag it into everything because they
Speaker 2: can reset every password. And your password should be long
Speaker 2: and strong, and that means Just pick three words, three
Speaker 2: words that you can remember, put them together into one password,
Speaker 2: and that will then become memorable to you and something
Speaker 2: that you can use quite efficiently.
Speaker 1: Good advice. We can read about it on your website
Speaker 1: at EFTM dot com. Thank you, trev cheuse mate, Trevor long,
Speaker 1: quarter past three. Just do it tonight. Just make sure
Speaker 1: you don't use the same password critically for your bank
Speaker 1: and your other services.