Z-library was a website that provided free access to a wide variety of books and research papers, however, it was shut down temporarily by the FBI in 2022 after allegations of copyright violations. However, this didn’t stop others from picking up on the desire of people to get free access to copyright protected material without paying and a number of Z-library clones have appeared.  Recently one of those clones Z-lib suffered a data breach in which personal information of ten million of its users was stolen and leaked.  Unlike the original Z-library, Z-lib requested payments which is part of the problem because along with usernames, email addresses and passwords, the stolen data also included Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrency wallet addresses for the nearly ten million people affected.

TIPS

Due to the fact that much of the content of Z-lib appears to be in violation of copyright laws, people whose personal information was compromised run the risk of legal action by law enforcement or publishers.  Additionally, if, despite continual warnings not to do so, users of the site used the same password for other accounts, they should immediately change those passwords and make sure they have strong, unique passwords for each of their accounts.  If you provided a cryptocurrency wallet to Z-lib, that wallet is in jeopardy and the cryptocurrencies contained in the wallet should be withdrawn.

Finally, this is a reminder to everyone to steer clear of sites on the Internet that promise for free or small charges services or products that are illegal such as movies or books that violate intellectual property laws.

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