Researchers at Cybernews have discovered the largest selection of passwords ever stored in the open, consisting of 9948575739 unique combinations. The Rockyou2024.txt password file was spotted on a hacker forum and is a prime target for attackers who use password mining to break into accounts.

“The RockYou2024 leak is essentially a compilation of real passwords used by people all over the world. Exposing so many passwords significantly increases the risk of password harvesting attacks.”– says Cybernews.

According to available data, the file in question was published on July 4 by a user with the pseudonym ObamaCare, who has already been publishing data from earlier leaks since registering on the forum. The researchers note that the RockYou2024 database could be used by attackers to perform brute-force attacks to gain unauthorized access to various online accounts used by people whose passwords are on the list.

The report says that the RockYou2024 file is based on various data leaks that occurred over the past two decades. It also includes 1.5 billion passwords that were leaked to the network between 2021 and 2024. Experts warn that such a large database of passwords can be used by attackers to carry out various attacks, and not only online services, but also industrial equipment, video surveillance cameras, etc. could be at risk.

“Furthermore, when combined with data from other forum and marketplace hacking leaks, for example, containing user email addresses and other data, RockYou2024 could contribute to a range of new data leaks, financial fraud, and identity theft.”– says Cybernews.