Exactis

What Happened

In June 2018, the marketing company Exactis accidentally left 340 million records of personal data out in the open online. 

Security researcher Vinny Troia found the leak, which held huge amounts of personal information spread across hundreds of different fields. The exposed data included addresses, phone numbers, family details, and deep personal profiles built from the data.

How to Stay Safe

1. Change the password on your email account
Since this leak exposed email addresses, updating your email password will reduce the risk of someone trying to access your inbox. This is especially important if you use the same password on other websites. 

Follow one of our step-by-step guides depending on which email provider you use:

How to Change Your Gmail Password

How to Change Your Yahoo Password

How to Change Your AOL Password

How to Change Your iCloud Password

How to Change Your Hotmail or Outlook Password

How to Change Your Email Password (for other Email Accounts)

Then, turn on Two-Step Verification while you're there, so your account is harder to access even if your password is compromised again in the future. You’ll also find how to do that by clicking the links above.

2. Be extra careful with unexpected calls, texts, or emails
Since this leak included deep personal details like family structure and profiling data, scammers could use this info to sound convincing. Be cautious of anyone reaching out who seems to know a lot about you.

Why This Breach Matters

Even though this breach happened back in 2018, leaked data doesn't just expire. It keeps getting bought, sold, and reused by scammers. 

And even if you've never used this exact site before, your email may have still ended up in it through a partner, data broker, or another service behind the scenes. 

If you've ever reused this password anywhere else, it's worth taking a minute to secure it now.