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YouNow data breach

From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the February 2019 breach of YouNow. For every breach, see Breaches.

The YouNow data breach exposed 18,241,518 accounts from younow.com in February 2019. The data taken includes usernames, names, email addresses, social media profiles and IP addresses.[1]

Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 18 Jul 2019, 5 months later. It is the 98th largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.

What was exposed

YouNow’s breach included 5 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:

DataWhat it’s used for
UsernamesHalf of a login. With a reused password, it opens other accounts.
NamesMakes scam messages personal enough to believe.
Email addressesExpect scam emails that name the company to look genuine.
Social media profilesA way to reach you with scams.
IP addressesRoughly where you were when you used the service.

What to do

  1. Check whether you’re in it.Search your email address on Have I Been Pwned. It tells you which breaches it appears in, YouNow among them, without showing the data.
  2. Turn on two-step sign-in.On YouNow (younow.com) and your email, so leaked sign-in details aren’t enough on their own.
  3. Distrust messages that mention YouNow.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, 5 months later.

Similar breaches

Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:

See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.

References

  1. ^ Troy Hunt. “YouNow”, Have I Been Pwned, added 18 Jul 2019. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.