Google Says System Was Not Breached, Advises Users to Protect Themselves Online
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Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Google denied on Wednesday that their system may have been compromised, allowing as many as five million users’ emails and passwords to be made public.
“The security of our users is of paramount importance to us,” a Google spokesperson said. “We have no evidence that our systems have been compromised, but whenever we become aware that an account has been compromised, we take steps to help our users secure their accounts.”
The Google spokesperson said that an exceedingly small percentage of the email addresses and passwords listed online match, meaning the majority are just random matches and would not allow access to a user’s account.
Google speculates that credentials could have been obtained in a number of ways without a breach of Google systems. Phishing schemes, the installation of malware, or the hacking of a third-party website where users may have reused passwords are among the possible causes.
As they have with other recent concerns about personal information, Google recommends users utilize a strong and unique password, update their recovery options and take advantage of two-step verification for log-ins.
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