Russian Crime Ring Steals 1.2 Billion Online Passwords

By Chris Paoli

A crime ring operating out of Russia has collected what is being called the largest batch of stolen online credentials, including usernames, passwords and e-mail addresses across multiple services.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Milwaukee firm Hold Security discovered the theft and said the obtained information came from 420,000 different Web sites, with targets ranging from across the entire globe. (Read more)