Yikes! 5 Million Gmail Passwords Leaked

Another day, another privacy leak. This time around, five million Gmail and Google+ usernames and passwords have reportedly been posted to a Russian Bitcoin forum. The good news — if you want to call it that — is that most of the information is believed to be old and out of date. The Daily Dot is reporting that accounts were not hacked recently; instead, the leak is a collection of account information that was phished or hacked from other websites over the years.

After the news broke, Google released a statement, saying the leak wasn't a result of a Google systems breach. "We found that less than two percent of the username and password combinations might have worked, and our automated anti-hijacking systems would have blocked many of those login attempts. We've protected the affected accounts and have required those users to reset their passwords."

To see if your account was compromised, check the site Is Leaked and enter your Gmail address. (Note that the site has been slow or showing error signs due to high traffic, but you can always check back later if that's the case.) To take extra precaution, make sure your current password is strong and enable two-step authentication. Also, if you use an old Gmail password on other services, be sure to change those passwords, too.