A Russian hacker group has stolen an estimated 1.2 billion
Internet credentials from major US companies and others
around the world, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Citing researchers from Hold Security, the report said
confidential user names and passwords were stolen from
some 420,000 websites, ranging from household names to
small Internet sites.
Hold did not immediately respond to a request for comment,
AFP reported.
According to the report, the hackers gained access to 500
million email accounts.
"Hackers did not just target US companies, they targeted
any website they could get, ranging from Fortune 500
companies to very small websites," said Hold security
founder Alex Holden told the daily.
"And most of these sites are still vulnerable."
In what is likely the largest data breach known, the group of
hackers based their operation in south central Russia, a
flanked by Kazakhstan and Mongolia, the report said.
The Times said the group includes fewer than a dozen men
in their 20s and that their computer servers are believed to
be in Russia.
"There is a division of labor within the gang," Holden is
quoted as saying.
"Some are writing the programming, some are stealing the
data."

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