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Password Data Leak in The AnswerBank: ChatterBank
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Password Data Leak

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Giggsie | 13:31 Mon 27th Jan 2025 | ChatterBank
13 Answers

When I signed in to AB a notice came up ....this password has appeared in a data leak please change it now. How does this happen?

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It could mean that you've used the same password for something else, which is usually discouraged.

How does a data breach happen and how did you get the warning?

Your browser, security software and/or password manager knows of security password breaches and scans your device when you sign in

Question Author

Barry it happened as I said went to login to AB and the notification came up when I put in my password 

Question Author

Radagast that is possible should I change them? 

I seem to remember this message on a Mac. Change them if you don't want to keep getting the message.

It's a feature that Apple has built into the operating system on its devices and which many web browsers for Windows also have too.

When you enter your password (e.g. 'mickeymouse') your device/browser sends it to a database of all known passwords that have been hacked somewhere in the past.  So, for example, a user of a South African website selling coffee beans (which then got hacked) might have also used 'mickeymouse' as his/her password, resulting in that password appearing in the database. [i.e. the fact that your password is in the database has absolutely nothing to do with you or any of your online accounts].

It DOESN'T mean that your AB account (or any other account used by you) has been hacked.  However, since hackers know that many people will choose the same passwords (such as 'pass123', 'elvispresley' or 'mickeymouse') it's warning you that a hacker might get into your account by using a 'brute force' attack (where thousands of common passwords are tried, one after another).

As hackers aren't generally interesting in websites where no financial transactions take place, there's no great risk in having an AB password that's been hacked elsewhere in cyberspace. However if you see such a message when signing into, say, Amazon, it would be sensible to change your password in order to prevent a hacker's 'brute force' attack allowing him/her get into your account.

Question Author

I have been trying other accounts even the other one I had same password as AB but never came up..only the one signing in to AB that came up with notification. 

Sorry, it's probably years since I saw this message. I thought it was due to duplicate passwords but I was wrong.

Sorry, Giggsie, I put and instead of 'or'.  I was asking if you wanted to know how the data breach happened OR how you got the warning

Question Author

Barry both really.

Thanks for all answers always get so much help when I need it here. 

It sounds like a scam to me - I regularly get similar messages out of the blue (e.g. every evening at exactly the same time I get a warning that a Russian has hacked my account).

What action did it ask you to take ?

Question Author

Canary it just said change your password 

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