A 96GB database containing more than 149 million logins and passwords was recently discovered by respected cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler. The findings, which ExpressVPN published in its research blog, lay out Fowler's findings in detail.

The data, which was openly accessible to anyone who knew where to find it, was full of usernames and passwords from people all over the world. Estimates place email credentials at the top of the list of leaks, with Gmail alone taking up 48 million entries. Outlook is on the list with 1.5 million leaks. Yahoo, iCloud, and .edu addresses make up more than 6 million leaks.

Fowler lists Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, OnlyFans, HBO Max, Disney+, Roblox, Binance, and X (aka Twitter) as other notable accounts discovered in the exposed database.

It gets worse. Financial accounts, including crypto wallets, banking, and credit card credentials, were also spotted in the limited sample that Fowler viewed. The presence of .gov domain credentials from "numerous countries" has Fowler concerned about national and public safety; this sort of info can be used as an entry into protected government networking.

That's a wide enough swath that practically anyone plugged into the internet could be exposed. Here's a quick estimation of Fowler's findings:

• Gmail — 48 million
• Yahoo — 4 million
• Outlook — 1.5 million
• .edu — 1.4 million
• iCloud — 900,000
• Facebook — 17 million
• Instagram — 6.5 million
• Netflix — 3.4 million
• Binance — 420,000
• OnlyFans — 100,000

It's important to note that this database isn't the result of a single data breach or a targeted attack by hackers on one site. This is a gargantuan collection of credentials and other sensitive documents gathered over time by malware.

As Fowler explains it, data that is stolen has to be kept somewhere, and cloud storage is usually the first choice. It piles up over time, evidently harvesting from numerous sources. The hackers who originally had hold of the data were likely subject to their own data breach, which resulted in the database's open doors.

It's noted that the database isn't tied to any ownership; Fowler reported the breach to the cloud provider, but quickly hit a dead end due to the IP being a subsidiary acting under the provider's umbrella and name.

Fowler spent "nearly a month" involving "multiple attempts" before he was able to get the exposed database taken offline. There's no indication as to how long this database was being fed with stolen data, but Fowler notes that its records continued to increase right up until it was taken offline.

As I noted when I covered one of Fowler's previous discoveries involving 40 billion unencrypted records, use strong passwords (ideally through a password manager), never use the same password twice, and use multi-factor authentication to prevent access should a bad actor indeed get their hands on your credentials.

(via Tom's Guide)

What are you doing to protect yourself against data breaches like this? Let me know in the comments section!

Over the past few years, there has been a paradigm shift in how we approach work with the rapid emergence of generative AI. Last year, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang indicated the software engineering might be dead with the prevalence of AI.

While coding seems like a lucrative career path to explore, Huang encourages the youth to explore other fields, including biology, education, manufacturing, or farming.

Instagram's co-founder Mike Krieger seemingly shares the same sentiments. While speaking in a recent podcast interview, the now-Anthropic Chief Product Officer revealed that the role of software engineers is rapidly evolving and that they'd soon start double-checking AI-generated code rather than writing it (via Business Insider).

Interestingly, Krieger's perspective on the topic doesn't categorically indicate that AI will completely take over coding jobs. Instead, repetitive and mundane tasks will be delegated to AI, as software engineers channel their expertise to more sensitive tasks that AI might not necessarily have the capability to handle.

Even Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman says the rapid emergence and adoption of AI may force software developers to stop coding, forcing them to upskill in the field to gain new skills.

According to Garman:

"If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can't exactly predict where it is — it's possible that most developers are not coding."

Tech brands are pondering software roles

We've seen companies like Salesforce and Meta share interesting software development strategies. For instance, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff indicated that the company is seriously debating hiring software engineers in 2025.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg seemingly echoed Benioff's sentiments, claiming mid-level AI engineers might claim coding jobs from professionals at Meta in 2025.

On the contrary, Microsoft's Work Trend Index report indicated that AI isn't claiming jobs from professionals at all. Instead, executives have raised concerns, indicating an insufficiency of talent to fill vacancies at their firms.

It's worth noting that Microsoft is recruiting employees with an AI aptitude, prompting a "142x increase in LinkedIn members adding AI skills like Copilot and ChatGPT to their profiles."

More recently, Google co-founder Sergey Brin claims that working 60-hour weeks is the "sweet spot of productivity" for Google engineers building AI models, that may potentially steal software engineering jobs.

However, multiple reports suggest AI might be a fad, and no one is actually using AI tools daily. Another even hints that 30% of AI-themed projects will be abandoned by 2025 after proof of concept.

Still, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes AI will replace humans for most things, but certain aspects of life will be preserved exclusively for humans to maintain authenticity. Interestingly, Gates previously expressed concerns, indicating AI might claim his job, too.

One of our readers reached out following my coverage and the high affinity of AI to render certain professions redundant. They're a software engineer who shared the above YouTube video comparing different AI models' performance while coding, including DeepSeek, OpenAI's o1, and 03 reasoning models.

"Spoiler: All models get through the initial levels, but can't move past the basic levels."

It's still an interesting and unpredictable time, but AI certainly feels like more than a "fad" at this point.

Threads is the hottest ticket in town right now as Instagram's answer to Twitter has finally launched to (most of) the world. But predictably, there are only apps available for iOS and Android. There isn't even a web app right now. 

No matter, though. Windows users have an ace up their sleeve through the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). Thanks to the wonders of virtualization, you can get Threading in a matter of moments on your Windows PC. 

Threads isn't available through the Amazon Appstore right now, but it's still really easy to get started. 

Through this guide, we'll show you how to install Threads on any Windows 11 PC letting you access and post right from your desktop.

Before you begin 

Naturally to make this happen you'll need to have WSA enabled on your PC. For the purposes of this guide, I'm going to assume you already have it up and running. If you don't, we have a full guide on how to get started with WSA on your PC. So definitely check that out first and get everything running.  

You'll also need the APK for Threads and an app from the Microsoft Store called WSATools. 

To get the APK you'll need to get it from a reputable third-party source. APKMirror is probably the best and most trusted option for this. Grab the latest version of the Threads APK. I went with the x86_64 version, but the ARM64 version also seems to work on an x86 Windows PC thanks to the magic of WSA. 

With WSA set up and your additional downloads completed, let's get Threads installed. 

How to install Threads on Windows 11

The first thing you need to do in order to sideload Threads is enable Developer Mode inside WSA. Follow these steps to do this: 

1. Open Windows Subsystem for Android on your PC.
2. Select Advanced settings from the sidebar.
3. Enable the Developer Mode toggle.

From here it's time to open WSATools. If it's your first time using it there will be an additional install of the Android ADB tools, but don't worry. WSATools will prompt you if this is required and all you need to do is tell it where on your PC to install what it needs. 

After that's sorted just choose the location of your downloaded Threads APK and hit install. Give it a minute and you're all done. Threads will now be accessible through the Start Menu like any other app on your PC. Login with your Instagram account and join the party!

What you need to know

• Instagram Threads profiles could be viewed earlier today.
• It seems Meta employees and some influencers have been testing out the app.
• Threads is a Twitter rival and launches tomorrow.

We're impatiently waiting for Instagram Threads to launch tomorrow with mobile apps and web access, but earlier on today the site apparently went live for a few hours before later being closed down. Alessandro Paluzzi, who is a reverse engineer and leaker tweeted the handles of Mark Zuckerberg and others including creators, who have clearly had early access to the platform to test it out.

This early access allowed us to see what profiles looked like. Matt Navarra on Twitter posted this screenshot of Mark Zuckerberg's Threads page showing what looks like his first ever post saying "Let's do this. Welcome to Threads."

This image shows the ability to like, comment, repost and share. It also shows that the app looks fairly basic right now but looks very similar to Twitter in how it is laid out. There seems to be the ability to add links for other platforms, and in what is quite interesting to see, the ability in future to connect and interact with people on other "Fediverse" platforms such as Mastodon.

Instagram Threads is arriving at a time when there's a lot going on in the social media world and has garnered even more interest due to people's frustrations with Twitter, which saw rate limits imposed on users recently causing a lot of people to sign up to other platforms like Mastodon. Threads is set to capitalize on a gap in the market and with so many people already having an Instagram account they will be good to go once the app launches on iOS and Android tomorrow. And as mentioned already you will of course be able to access Threads through the web. Not long to go.

Rudy Huyn might be part machine, his apps are constantly getting new features and updates faster than we can keep track of. He’s the developer behind some of the more popular apps in the Windows Phone community like 6tag, 6sec, Wikipedia, TVShow, Fuse and more. His Instagram app, 6tag, has been especially well received and an app we see updated more than others. Let’s check out what’s new in the latest version.

The last update for 6tag came out about 5 days ago. It brought some cool features like the ability to repost an image, view posts based on your position, new Live tiles, and a way to manage your security. Those features were very welcomed by us and the community.

However, it did contain some small bugs that might have annoyed some users. For example, accepting a friend request seemed broken and so did the connection with Facebook. Thankfully at the time we knew version 1.5.1 had been submitted to the Store to address those errors.

Today v1.5.1 is now out for all you 6taggers in the Windows Phone Store. If you had a private profile and couldn’t accept new followers you should be able to now. Same goes for connecting to Facebook.

Want to get 6tag for Windows Phone? It’s a free app that is ad-supported, you can pay to remove those ads and pay a bit more to unlock video upload. It’s available for Windows Phone 8 devices and you can grab it in the Windows Phone Store, by using the QR code below, or swiping to the right in our app.

Thanks for the tip Giordano! 

How many Instagram clients exist for Android and iOS? Just one, the official app. We may not have the official app on Windows Phone, but we do have a solid selection of alternatives to get the job done. It’s hard to imagine what an official app would bring at this point besides the official seal. Today one of our apps picked up an update. Let’s check out what’s new with InPic.

InPic was last covered by us a little over two weeks ago. That update fixed a bug with user logins, added the ability to share to Facebook, and add integration for the Picture Hub. There was a small update between then and now that added the ability to register a new Instagram account through the app.  Here’s what’s new in this latest update v1.2:

• Add multiple accounts
• Repost photos

Support for multiple accounts is a pretty straightforward concept. It’s great for folks who manage company or brand accounts alongside their own personal. Reposts are a new interesting twist to the photo sharing social network. Think of them like retweets on Twitter. InPic now allows you to repost any photo to Instagram. In order to provide credit to the original account, the username stays embedded in the repost. It’s a pretty nifty thing and something we haven’t really seen elsewhere.

Hey Molly Wood, we’ve got plenty of Instagram apps on Windows Phone.

Want to get in on the InPic action? It’s available for Windows Phone 8 users and is free with no ads and no trial. Just 100% free. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store, use the QR code below, or swipe to the right in our app.

Thanks for the tip Martsicky!

Instagraph is a popular Instagram client for our Windows Phone that was the first to allow uploads to the photo sharing network. The Windows Phone photography app was updated today to version 2.6 and adds new features to both the Windows Phone 7.x and 8 versions.

The Windows Phone 8 version gets forty-five new effects filters that are powered by Nokia's imaging SDK. Everything from an antique filter to a cartoon rendition to a lomo filter. Instagraph also gets lens support with the Windows Phone 8 version allowing you to launch the app from the camera lens selection.

Instagraph new filters, lens support and sharing features

Both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x versions get Facebook and Twitter sharing options, a minor user interface restyle and a few "under the hood" fixes and improvements.

If you're like Molly Wood and still searching for an Instagram client app for your Windows Phone, Instagraph is worth checking out.

There is a free trial version of Instagraph available with the full version running $1.29. You can find it all here in the Windows Phone Store.

Thanks, everyone, for the tips!

Enough said.