RockYou2021 Breached Data Puts Billions of Accounts at Risk

Data breaches are always a risk, even several years after the fact, which is why the newly revealed RockYou2021 email and password collection poses such a large problem.

CyberNews reports that RockYou2021, an homage to 2009's RockYou data breach, is an almost 100GB text file containing close to 8.4 billion (yes, billion) emails and passwords. The list presumably has been collected from several previous data breaches and hacks. This makes it the largest collection of compromised account info in history, and could likely effect all 4.7 billion people in the world who have an online presence.

The user who uploaded this list is presumed to have collected and compiled the data from several years worth of previous attacks, including the original RockYou breach that it's named after.

The author claims all of the passwords contained in the list are "6-20 characters long, with non-ASCII characters and white spaces removed."

Due to the volume of this list, regardless of how long ago these breaches took place, CyberNews recommends that everyone with an online account of any sort resets their passwords. With a total of 4.7 billion online users worldwide and 8.4 billion compromised passwords, that averages out to roughly one to two compromised email addresses/passwords per user.

Anyone who is concerned that they might be affected should consider changing their passwords immediately. CyberNews also has a personal data leak checker and a leaked password checker set up for those who would prefer to see if they're on the list before taking action. If a password is being used for multiple accounts, changing that password for all of them is also recommended.