Major breach of "Gmail" data exposes 2.5 billion users to phishing attacks

A news report revealed that a major database belonging to "Google" was subjected to an advanced hacking operation, resulting in hackers accessing sensitive information concerning approximately 2.5 billion users of the "Gmail" email service.

According to what was published by the British newspaper "Daily Mail" on Saturday, a hacking group known as "Shiny Hunters" carried out the attack, managing to infiltrate the database managed through a cloud area after they "deceived an employee at the company last June."

The report clarified that the operation resulted in the theft of "a huge amount of business files, including company names and contact details of scientists," noting that "Google" does not believe that passwords were included in the theft.

Since the incident, hackers have begun to exploit the stolen data in systematic cyber attacks, as they are "using this data to make fake phone calls and send malicious emails to customers, in an attempt to access their accounts and personal information."

Cybersecurity expert James Knight warned of the dire consequences of this breach, stating: "This breach could cause severe damage to any user with a "Gmail" account, as scammers pretend to be "Google" employees to contact customers."

He explained that "many Gmail users have received phone calls claiming that the caller is from "Google," along with text messages aimed at prompting people to log in or share their password."

Knight also revealed a new tactic used by scammers, indicating that "many "Gmail" users on social media have reported that scammers are using numbers starting with the 650 area code to make fake calls, trying to deceive people and convince them to reset their password."

At the end of his report, expert Knight provided urgent advice to service users, "advising anyone with a "Gmail" account to review it and update their password if it is weak or commonly used."

Knight recommends "using the "multi-factor authentication" option to add a layer of security to the "Gmail" account, in addition to conducting a security check on "Google" to identify vulnerabilities in personal accounts."