Data breach news has become so prevalent that many individuals may feel desensitized to the continual reports of compromised credentials. However, the scale of this new breach should warrant significant concern. According to Have I Been Pwned, the service that allows users to check whether their email addresses have been associated with password breaches, a staggering 284,132,969 logins have been affected in this latest incident.

What Happened

“In February 2025,” the site shared, “23 billion rows of steal logs were obtained from a Telegram channel known as ALIEN TXTBASE.” Troy Hunt, the founder of Have I Been Pwned, provided further details on his blog. He stated that he was notified of this breach by a contact at a government agency, involving two files totaling slightly over 5GB distributed via Telegram.

Hunt elaborated, “Telegram allows for the easy publication of extensive data under a cloak of anonymity, facilitating mass distribution.” The stolen data typically comes from individuals being deceived by seemingly legitimate websites, leading them to download software embedded with information-stealing malware. Subsequent input of credentials is logged and sold as part of massive archives like those reported on Telegram.

Final Thoughts

Rather than concluding with a cautionary note about using password managers or improving security measures, let’s instead highlight that crafting the ideal password can also be part of a fun video game experience, diverting from the usual doom and gloom associated with such news.