16 Billion Passwords Leaked: Why Are iPhones Better Protected?

 16 billion stolen credentials and your Apple tools to deal with them.

You may have already received a message alerting you that your credentials have been compromised. These alerts should be taken seriously, as the consequences can be serious: access to your accounts, identity theft, or banking fraud. Data breaches are increasing at an alarming rate.

Last May, 184 million Apple IDs were exposed on an unsecured server, alongside Facebook, Google, and PayPal data. This leak had already been called "a cybercriminal's dream work list" by expert Jeremiah Fowler. Now, the Cybernews team has discovered a much more massive breach, making previous ones look like simple incidents.

An unprecedented massive leak

Researchers have unearthed 30 datasets containing a staggering 16 billion logins and passwords . This astronomical number doesn't mean that every person on Earth is affected. In reality, many users have multiple affected accounts, and many records are duplicates. The majority of the data comes from specific geographic areas, such as Portuguese-speaking countries, which alone have 3.5 billion records . This information affects all popular services: Apple, Facebook, Google, and even

Telegram with 60 million credentials exposed . The data was stolen by malware that quietly installs itself on devices. According to experts, this information is used to organize targeted phishing attacks , identity theft , and large-scale ransomware intrusions.

So why are iPhone users better protected? Because Apple integrates a whole arsenal of security features by default, often underestimated, but incredibly effective when used properly.

Your iPhone already protects you

Your iPhone has effective tools built into it by default to combat this threat, but good digital hygiene is still essential. A good practice is to use a password manager to create unique codes for each service.

Apple's Passwords app offers this protection right on your iPhone, plus it alerts you when your credentials appear in known leaks. Enabling two-factor authentication on all your accounts also provides added security.

On iPhone, you also get additional tools like the "Hide My Email" feature, which creates a unique email address for each service. Apple also offers Passkeys , a technology that replaces passwords with Face ID or Touch ID. With these simple measures, you can effectively protect yourself, even in the face of a leak of this magnitude.

This story is reminiscent of the 3.2 million Belgians whose WhatsApp data recently ended up on the dark web.