Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler reported on Thursday about finding a “publicly exposed database [that] was not password-protected or encrypted” and contained over 184 million unique usernames and passwords for services from Facebook, Instagram, Microsoft, Roblox, Snapchat, and more. A report by Wired on Fowler’s findings states that login information for Apple, as well as Amazon, Nintendo, Snapchat, Spotify, Twitter, WordPress, Yahoo, banks, health services, government portals, and more was also found in the database.
Folwer was unable to determine the purpose of the database, and he reported it to the hosting provider, which then restricted public access to it. He was also unable to determine how long the database was publicly available or who had used it. Fowler was able to authenticate the information in the database by using some email addresses that he found and identifying himself as a researcher investigating a data breach.
Read more at Macworld.com