The passwords and usernames for 97 m Gmail , Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts , affecting 272.3 m users globally , have reportedly been hacked and traded online among Russia ’s criminal networks . Founder and CISO of Hold Security , Alex Holden , estimates credentials from around 24 m Gmail accounts , 25 m email accounts and 40 m Yahoo accounts were accessed but the majority were allegedly stolen from Russia ’s Mail.ru email accounts . Hold Security researchers found emails being offered for roughly £ ##500 by a Russian hacker , however , the minimal fee could also be waived in exchange for posting favourable comments about the emails on forums .
The passwords and usernames for 97m Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo email accounts, affecting 272.3m users globally, have reportedly been hacked and traded online among Russia’s criminal underworld. Founder and CISO of Hold Security, Alex Holden, estimates credentials from around 24m Gmail accounts, 33m Hotmail accounts and 40m Yahoo accounts were accessed but the majority were allegedly stolen from Russia’s Mail.ru email service. Hold Security researchers found datasets being offered for roughly £0.50 by a Russian hacker, however, the minimal fee could also be waived in exchange for posting favourable comments about the hacker on forums.