Wishbone (2020) data breach
From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the January 2020 breach of Wishbone (2020). For every breach, see Breaches.
The Wishbone (2020) data breach exposed 9,705,172 accounts from wishbone.io in January 2020. The data taken includes auth tokens, passwords, usernames and dates of birth and 8 more kinds of data.[1]
Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 28 May 2020, 4 months later. It is the 132nd largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.
What was exposed
Wishbone (2020)’s breach included 12 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:
| Data | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Auth tokens | A token can let someone into the account without the password at all. |
| Passwords | Criminals try leaked passwords on email, banking and shopping sites, because people reuse them. |
| Usernames | Half of a login. With a reused password, it opens other accounts. |
| Dates of birth | Used to prove who you are to banks and phone companies. |
| Names | Makes scam messages personal enough to believe. |
| 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. |
| Social media profiles | A way to reach you with scams. |
| Genders | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
| Geographic locations | Roughly where you live. |
| IP addresses | Roughly where you were when you used the service. |
| Profile photos | 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, Wishbone (2020) among them, without showing the data.
- Change your Wishbone (2020) password.If the account still exists, sign in at Wishbone (2020) (wishbone.io) 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 Wishbone (2020).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, 4 months later.
Similar breaches
Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:
- Liker, March 2021, 465,141 accounts
- ixigo, January 2019, 17 million accounts
- Wattpad, June 2020, 269 million accounts
- NetGalley, December 2020, 1.4 million accounts
- TrueFire, February 2020, 599,667 accounts
- TaiLieu, November 2019, 7.3 million accounts
See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.
References
- ^ Troy Hunt. “Wishbone (2020)”, Have I Been Pwned, added 28 May 2020. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.
External links
- Have I Been Pwned, to check your email address
- wishbone.io, Wishbone (2020)’s website