Comment by SoundOfTomorrow on 17/02/2022 at 01:33 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

View submission: Q4 Safety & Security Report

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but that makes no sense

1.4 billion accounts compared to the previous quarter of 85 million?! This doesn't tell me it's people - it's automated bots. Perhaps a combination of account creation being a breeze with the reddit app.

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Comment by jmdbcool at 17/02/2022 at 04:13 UTC*

8 upvotes, 1 direct replies

1.4 billion accounts worth of info was hacked/leaked ELSEWHERE on the Internet. Reddit does us the courtesy of checking if those other accounts match reddit accounts, and if they do, you get a message to the effect of *"hey, someone leaked your name/PW on this OTHER site, which we see you are also using here. You gotta change it now."* This is a "Protective account security action".

Personal /account info is leaked from freaking everywhere so 1.4 billion checks is not a huge surprise. The number increase has nothing to do with reddit itself (except that maybe they are being *more proactive* in checking said breaches to keep reddit users informed and secure). https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites