The Billion User Name and Password Combo Heist-Have We Reached a TRUST Tipping Point?

By Peter Bernstein

As I sit here spending my day changing all my passwords, for the I can’t remember how many times this year, I can’t help but wonder if we have reached a tipping point when it comes to TRUST on the Internet.

At this point it is difficult to imagine that you have not seen the story, emanating from the Black Hat security conference now underway in Las Vegas and first reported last night in the New York Times (NYT) that according to Milwaukee, WI-based Hold Security a Russian crime ring has accumulated the largest known cache of stolen Internet credentials. Hold says the trove of information includes 1.2 billion user name and password combinations and more than 500 million email addresses. And, yes you read correctly that is billion with a “B”—representing roughly one-third of all current users of the Internet. (Read more)