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Yes, 16 billion passwords leaked online. No, its not what you think.

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2 months ago

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News spread early Friday that a record-breaking data breach exposed 16 billion passwords to the world, including user credentials for the likes of Facebook, Google, Apple, and tons of other places. Some commentators were quick to call it the largest password leak in history, and in terms of raw records exposed, that’s mostly, technically true. However, these records did not come from a single breach — or even a new breach. Instead, they came from many smaller ones.

Data breaches are an unfortunate reality in the digital age, and some of the breaches can be quite large. However, not every release of stolen data is the direct result of a recent cybersecurity breach. As Mashable recently reported in our countdown of the top cybersecurity breaches of 2025, hackers will often compile information from multiple prior hacks and combine them into one massive file. This is becoming a trend in the darker corners of the internet. The end result is more of a “greatest hits” rather than a new, noteworthy hack.

Such is the case here. Per Bleeping Computer, the information contained in the 16 billion records was most likely compiled from a host of prior hacks, compiled, and then released as a single set of data. It was likely circulating for some time before being compiled, and likely came from a combination of breaches, hacks, phishing scams, and malware.

This is backed up by a tweet from vx-underground, an educational website that specializes in malware and cybersecurity. “Someone took a bunch of existing leaks, threw it all together, and slapped a NEW stick [sic] on it.”

However, the existence of all this data in one spot is still rather damaging, as cybercriminals now have access to all of this data in a single spot, potentially making it much easier to concoct more effective phishing scams or engage in identity theft.

The largest single-point data breach in history is still Yahoo’s 2016 breach, when hackers stole data about all three billion of the website’s users.

Protecting yourself from password leaks

With so many records in one spot — even if some of them are legacy data that is no longer relevant — it’s still probably a good idea to take an audit of your online services to make sure you’re protected. A good place to start is Have I Been Pwned, a website dedicated to showing data breaches. Simply go there, enter your email address(es), and the site will show you which credentials have been exposed to the public.

We recommend changing those credentials immediately if you haven’t already, and using a strong password when you do so, as they are more difficult to crack. After that, you’ll want to enable multi-factor authentication on every account you possibly can, as the added layer helps keep criminals from stealing your life if they obtain your password. That should be the bare minimum, but there are plenty of other steps you can take to keep yourself safe online as well.

Have a story to share about a scam or security breach that impacted you? Tell us about it. Email submissions@mashable.com with the subject line "Safety Net" or use this form. Someone from Mashable will get in touch.

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Buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 at Best Buy and get a free $50 e-gift card

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4 hours ago

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August 7, 2025

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SAVE $50: As of Aug. 6, buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 for $349.99 at Best Buy and get a free $50 e-gift card.


Samsung Galaxy Watch8 on white background

Credit: Amazon


Samsung Galaxy Watch8

$349.99
at Samsung

Get a free $50 e-gift card with purchase

A good smartwatch can be your constant companion when it comes to handling your day. It can track your fitness, handle notifications and texts, and even help you make calls, all while giving you a full spectrum of body-centric metrics. If you're already using an Android phone or want a reliable brand for your purchase, you should consider heading to Best Buy to grab a Samsung smartwatch and get a little extra.

As of Aug. 6, buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 for $349.99 at Best Buy and get a free $50 e-gift card.

SEE ALSO:

All the best smartwatches for every wrist and interest

The 2025 Galaxy Watch8 has a slew of features, including Google Gemini integration, something Samsung managed to get before Google could implement in its Pixel Watch lineup. It also has a wide variety of health and fitness options, including preset workout data, sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, and much more to help you make sure you can face the day at your best.

Beyond those things, the Galaxy Watch8 also lets you handle comms straight from your wrist so you can make calls, text, use some of your favorite apps, and organize your life. Your personal AI assistant is voice-activated as well, so it can help you get things done even when your hands are busy.

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A key YouTube feature broke for Android users

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4 hours ago

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August 7, 2025

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You'd think Android and YouTube would work together flawlessly, but early this week, that wasn't the case.

As reported and confirmed by 9to5Google, YouTube users on Android devices couldn't change the playback speed on videos. Changing the speed to anything other than 1x would simply not work, as the setting change wouldn't save, acting as if you hadn't done it at all. Obviously, that's not a great user experience, considering that Android and YouTube are both Google's responsibility. It seems a bit strange for Android users specifically to lose access to a core YouTube feature, but that's what happened.

SEE ALSO:

Google is killing millions of old links. How to check yours.

Thankfully, it seems that as of Wednesday morning, the issue has been fixed, per a YouTube community note. The note states that any users still experiencing the issue should simply close and reopen the app. Hopefully, by doing that, you can fix the problem and get back to frame-by-frame analysis of movie trailers at 0.25x speed.

For once, it paid off to use a Google app on iOS instead.

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Him trailer: Producer Jordan Peele turns football practice into a bloodbath

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4 hours ago

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August 7, 2025

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On top of directing horror hits Get Out, Us, and Nope, Jordan Peele has produced several exciting genre projects, from Dev Patel's Monkey Man to Nia DaCosta's Candyman, which he also co-wrote. Next up on his production slate is the football horror film Him, directed by Justin Tipping.

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'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' trailer: Rose Byrne is a mother losing control in A24 drama

Co-written by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers, and Tipping, Him introduces promising young football star Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers). Not only does Withers have acting experience from projects like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Atlanta, he was also part of Florida State University's 2017 football team as a wide receiver. Hopefully his experience playing was nothing like Cameron's in Him, though, because the trailer makes it out to be a full-on nightmare.

After suffering a traumatic brain injury at the hands of an unhinged fan, Cameron thinks his football dream is dead. But when his hero, legendary quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), offers to train him at his personal compound, he's excited to accept.

However, Isaiah's training methods are far more violent than Cameron realized. (And football is already pretty violent!) We're talking smashing footballs into players' faces until they bleed as punishment.

But that's just the start of the horrors that await in Him, which demands that Cameron sacrifice everything to be the GOAT he so badly wants to be. Check out the unsettling trailer above.

Him also stars Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, and MMA fighter Maurice Greene, as well as hip-hop artists Guapdad 4000 and Tierra Whack.

Him hits theaters Sept. 19.

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