Estimation question

Estimate the number of passwords hacked around the world annually.

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

Estimation under high uncertainty: structuring a global cybersecurity number from account counts and breach rates.

Clarify what counts as hacked, for example credentials exposed in breaches versus accounts actively taken over.
Estimate the number of online accounts worldwide, roughly 5 to 6 billion internet users with multiple accounts each.
Apply an average breach exposure rate per account per year, based on the frequency of major reported breaches.
Estimate total credentials exposed annually, then apply a smaller conversion rate for accounts actually compromised or misused.
State the final range and note the wide uncertainty given how many breaches go undisclosed.

Separates credentials exposed in breaches, likely billions, from accounts actually hacked or misused, a much smaller subset.
Anchors the estimate loosely to known large scale breach patterns without claiming specific real statistics.
Presents a range, for example hundreds of millions to a few billion, rather than a single false precise number.

Citing a specific real world statistic as fact instead of building the estimate from assumptions.
Conflating exposed credentials with accounts genuinely compromised, which overstates harm.

Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.