Recently media have reported that a file of about 5 million gmail address and pa
ID: 659420 • Letter: R
Question
Recently media have reported that a file of about 5 million gmail address and password pairs was published on a Russian Bitcoin forum.
A media article on the leak
Other media have reported that the password is typically not a gmail password and might be used on systems other than gmail where the gmail address is the identifier. I want to determine which of my passwords was paired with my gmail address. The link has a zip (7z) file and it appears that there are only gmail addresses present -- no passwords. Other media have reported that the posted file has been revised to exclude the passwords.
Is there a website that will email (to my gmail) the password that was leaked?
Explanation / Answer
Responsible media outlets which have obtained the original data set for a password leak will not publicly disclose the passwords. You can go searching around for the raw breach data yourself, but the areas of the internet which would advertise hosting of such data (after it's been pulled from Pastebin and the likes) are likely riddled with malware and exploits.
If your email is listed among those included in a breach specifically associated with your mail provider, it would be safest to assume the email account itself was compromised.
Given that other sources are claiming that the password data may actually be from services other than GMail itself, you should also assume (if your email is listed) that any other accounts associated with your email address are also compromised.
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