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“Mother Of All Breaches” Exposes 26 Billion Data Records
The files encompass a massive 12 terabytes of personal information from various sources, including Adobe, Canva, and X.
An extensive database consisting of a staggering 26 billion meticulously curated and reindexed data records has recently appeared on an unprotected online platform. This dataset, referred to by experts as the “Mother of all Breaches” (MOAB), encompasses an astonishing 12 terabytes of personal information sourced from various websites, including several big industry names:
- X (281 million)
- Tencent QQ (1.5 billion)
- Adobe (153 million)
The repository of sensitive data encompasses usernames and passwords from tools like Canva to government records from the United States, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, and more.
The discovery of the data trove is down to the diligent efforts of Bob Dyachenko, a cybersecurity researcher and the proprietor of SecurityDiscovery.com, along with the collaborative work of the Cybernews team, who have been investigating its origins.
The research community believes that the owner has a vested interest in storing large amounts of data and could be a malicious actor, data broker, or other large-scale service with the capability to mine massive volumes of data.
The sheer magnitude of the records alone is cause for profound concern. The MOAB is probably the largest “compilation of multiple breaches” (COMB). Enough to arm malicious entities with abundant ammunition to carry out “identity theft, sophisticated phishing schemes, and targeted cyberattacks,” according to Dyachenko.
A faint silver lining of the breach is the confirmation that a significant portion of the records are outdated. Primarily, the MOAB is an amalgamation of prior breaches and leaks, albeit with numerous duplications.
Also Read: The Largest Data Breaches In The Middle East
With that being said, experts also warn that many people use the same passwords across services like Netflix and Gmail, allowing attackers to use the information from MOAB to breach more sensitive accounts.
The full extent and implications of the “Mother Of All Breaches” remain undetermined. The immediate priority lies in uncovering the source and motivation behind this colossal data repository. In the interim, it’s vital to ensure you haven’t used the same password across multiple services or, at the very least, to periodically change those in use.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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