RockYou2021: 8 billion leaked passwords in one file
A huge password list is circulating online. It’s mostly old leaks, which is exactly why unique passwords matter.
A 100 GB text file called RockYou2021 was posted on a hacker forum this month, with about 8.4 billion entries. It’s a compilation of older leaks, not one new breach.
That sounds less scary. It isn’t. Lists like this are exactly what attackers feed into credential stuffing: trying known passwords against email, VPN and cloud logins.
What protects you:
- Unique passwords everywhere, so one leak opens one door.
- A password manager to make that possible.
- MFA, so a leaked password alone isn’t enough.
- For companies: block known-breached passwords when users set them, and watch for many failed logins from the same sources.
A password you used on a site in 2014 is probably in this file. If you still use it anywhere, today is a good day to change it.