Over 180 million Users Including Pakistan Affected by Data Breach

Confidential data which includes passwords belonging to more than 180 million users from big companies including Google, Facebook and Apple in one of the massive international data breaches in recent history.

The data of over 180 million users can be used for identity theft, account hacking and many more.

An urgent advisory was issued by Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (N-CERT) to all users and institutions throughout the country in response to the concerning occurrence.

The advice claims that information from widely used social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat as well as government portals is also compromised.

N-CERT notified that millions of users could be at danger of identity theft, account hacking, and additional cyber invasions if automated cyberattacks were to take use of the stolen data, which is now kept in an unprotected database.

Both private and government organizations, including financial accounts, are at risk, the advice stressed, and urgent precautions must be taken.

In order to improve account security, Pakistani users are strongly encouraged to change their passwords as soon as possible and turn on two-step verification.

The advice gave a warning:

 

“Passwords should never be shared via email or stored in unsecured files,”.

In order to protect credentials, it further suggested using reliable password managers and updating security and antivirus software on a regular basis.

Additionally, N-CERT advised users to keep an eye out for odd login activities and to report any suspicious activity right away.

Government agencies and sensitive organizations have also been urged to respond quickly to identify and notify impacted users, in addition to individuals.

The report said that neglecting to put in place the required security measures could compromise the integrity of the country’s digital infrastructure and perhaps affect vital services.

Experts in cybersecurity have emphasized the need for increased awareness because automated assaults could target the exposed data in the days ahead.