• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, 4 hours ago

Consumers — and businesses — were shaken earlier this week by a rash of news stories saying there had been a catastrophic data breach.  

Some accounts said 183 million passwords been exposed. And the headlines were enough to alarm anyone. Here is a sampling:  

• Urgent warning to Gmail users as 183 MILLION passwords are stolen in data breach
• 183 million Gmail Accounts Exposed In Massive Malware Breach 
• Urgent alert issued to anyone who uses Gmail after 183 million passwords leaked

But the story is not what it seems. Experts who follow such episodes say most of the email addresses had already been seen on the web: This was not a new event.  

And Google itself has denied the reports. “Reports of a ‘Gmail security breach impacting millions of users’ are false,” Google posted on X.  "Gmail’s defense are strong, and users remain protected."

Moreover, Google states: “The inaccurate reports are stemming from a misunderstanding of infostealer databases, which routinely compile various credential theft activity occurring across the web. It’s not reflective of a new attack aimed at any one person, tool, or platform.” 

The downside for cybercriminals who traffic in such data is that “many of these credentials are outdated, invalid, or linked to accounts that are no longer in use.” 

And the downside for everyone else is that “misleading reporting like this causes panic where there’s no need for it — whether it stems from misunderstanding technical details or from the pressure to make a headline.” 

However, several reports on Google’s response note that Google has had to deny such reports before.  

It was not clear at deadline whether marketers had lost traffic from Gmail or whether consumers were cancelling email accounts due to the reports. 

Stolen data is a serious problem, whenever and however it occurs. So while everyone should be grateful that this incident wasn’t as described in the headlines, they should not let their guard down.