Billions of Google users urged to change passwords immediately

Google has urged 2.5 billion Gmail users to change their passwords following a hacker attack by the ShinyHunters group. The company emphasized the need to carefully monitor suspicious activity and apply additional security measures, including two-factor authentication, reports New York Post.

The corporation reminded users about basic security rules: attackers can gain access to account credentials through phishing emails with fake login pages or by convincing users to reveal two-factor authentication codes.

The special attention to security is related to an incident in June, when Google reported the compromise of a Salesforce database. Hackers impersonated support staff, which proved to be an effective way to deceive employees. Mostly public information was affected - contact details of small and medium-sized businesses. Experts believe that similar methods could be used in larger-scale attacks.

Google also warned that ShinyHunters, who began their activities in 2020 and are involved in major data breaches at AT&T, Microsoft, Santander, and Ticketmaster, may create a special website to pressure victims by publishing stolen data.

All users affected by recent events received email notifications on August 8.