“This is not just a leak—it’s a blueprint for mass exploitation,” researchers said. “With over 16 billion login records exposed, cybercriminals now have unprecedented access to personal credentials that can be used for account takeover, identity theft, and highly targeted phishing.”

Here are some tips for managing your cyber security risk as we’re still learning more about the reported largest data breach in history involving 16 billion passwords.

The file was completely exposed - no encryption, no password protection, no security - just a plain text document containing millions of sensitive data entries.