GeekedIn data breach
From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the August 2016 breach of GeekedIn. For every breach, see Breaches.
The GeekedIn data breach exposed 1,073,164 accounts from geekedin.net in August 2016. The data taken includes usernames, names, email addresses and geographic locations and 2 more kinds of data.[1]
Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 17 Nov 2016, 3 months later. It is the 408th largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.
What was exposed
GeekedIn’s breach included 6 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:
| Data | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Usernames | Half of a login. With a reused password, it opens other accounts. |
| Names | Makes scam messages personal enough to believe. |
| Email addresses | Expect scam emails that name the company to look genuine. |
| Geographic locations | Roughly where you live. |
| Professional skills | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
| Years of professional experience | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
What to do
- Check whether you’re in it.Search your email address on Have I Been Pwned. It tells you which breaches it appears in, GeekedIn among them, without showing the data.
- Turn on two-step sign-in.On GeekedIn (geekedin.net) and your email, so leaked sign-in details aren’t enough on their own.
- Distrust messages that mention GeekedIn.Scammers use breach data to sound genuine. Don’t click links in emails or texts about the breach; go to the site yourself.
Timeline
- : the breach, as best it can be dated.
- : Have I Been Pwned verifies the data and adds it to its search, 3 months later.
- : the entry was last updated.
Similar breaches
Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:
- StreetEasy, June 2016, 988,230 accounts
- Bell (2017 breach), May 2017, 2.2 million accounts
- Dubsmash, December 2018, 162 million accounts
- Houzz, May 2018, 49 million accounts
- Chegg, April 2018, 40 million accounts
- Poshmark, May 2018, 36 million accounts
See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.
References
- ^ Troy Hunt. “GeekedIn”, Have I Been Pwned, added 17 Nov 2016. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.
External links
- Have I Been Pwned, to check your email address
- geekedin.net, GeekedIn’s website