Germany: 16 Million Accounts Breached
Stolen Information Discovered While Analyzing BotnetsGermany's Federal Office for Information Security is encouraging Internet users to utilize an online tool to verify whether they were among the 16 million individuals whose personal information has been compromised for purposes of identity theft.
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The BSI says it learned of the compromised accounts from several research institutions and local law enforcement agencies that were analyzing botnets. Compromised information includes e-mail addresses and passwords for e-mail, social networks and online shops, among other things, BSI says.
The researchers and law enforcement turned over the e-mail addresses to the office so affected individuals could be informed.
Online users can check to see if their e-mail address is among the compromised accounts by using an online tool the federal office set up.
The office urges Internet users to scan their computers for malware and change their passwords used to log in to social networks, online shops, e-mail accounts and other online services.