KnownCircle data breach
From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the April 2016 breach of KnownCircle. For every breach, see Breaches.
The KnownCircle data breach exposed 1,957,600 accounts from knowncircle.com in April 2016. The data taken includes passwords, names, physical addresses and email addresses and 3 more kinds of data.[1]
Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 17 Nov 2018, 3 years later. It is the 317th largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.
What was exposed
KnownCircle’s breach included 7 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:
| Data | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Passwords | Criminals try leaked passwords on email, banking and shopping sites, because people reuse them. |
| Names | Makes scam messages personal enough to believe. |
| Physical addresses | Used to prove who you are, and for scam letters and parcels. |
| Email addresses | Expect scam emails that name the company to look genuine. |
| Phone numbers | Expect scam texts and calls, and a higher risk of someone moving your number to their SIM. |
| Email messages | Private, and now in someone else’s hands. |
| Genders | 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, KnownCircle among them, without showing the data.
- Change your KnownCircle password.If the account still exists, sign in at KnownCircle (knowncircle.com) and change it.
- Change it anywhere you used the same one.Start with your email, then banking and shopping. Leaked passwords are tried on other sites automatically, within days.
- Use a password manager and two-step sign-in.A different password for every site means one breach can’t open the rest. Two-step sign-in stops a leaked password working on its own.
- Distrust messages that mention KnownCircle.Scammers use breach data to sound genuine. Don’t click links in emails or texts about the breach; go to the site yourself.
- Put a PIN on your phone account.Ask your mobile provider for a port-out PIN, so no one can move your number to their SIM.
Timeline
- : the breach, as best it can be dated.
- : Have I Been Pwned verifies the data and adds it to its search, 3 years later.
Breaches often stay hidden for a long time. Until it came out, people in it had no reason to change anything.
Similar breaches
Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:
- Tuned Global, March 2016, 985,586 accounts
- ClearVoice Surveys, August 2015, 15 million accounts
- Chegg, April 2018, 40 million accounts
- Fashion Nexus, July 2018, 1.3 million accounts
- Domino's, June 2014, 648,231 accounts
- Wendy's, March 2018, 52,485 accounts
See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.
References
- ^ Troy Hunt. “KnownCircle”, Have I Been Pwned, added 17 Nov 2018. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.
External links
- Have I Been Pwned, to check your email address
- knowncircle.com, KnownCircle’s website