# Houzz

WHAT HAPPENED

In mid 2018, the housing design website Houzz suffered a data breach
[https://help.houzz.com/s/article/security-update?language=en_US]. 

The company discovered the incident later that year and disclosed it to impacted
members in February 2019.

Almost 49 million unique email addresses were in the breach alongside names, IP
addresses, geographic locations, passwords and links to social media profiles.


HOW TO STAY SAFE

 1. Go to https://www.houzz.com/ [https://www.houzz.com/]

 2. Click “Sign in“ in the top right-hand corner

 3. Click “Forgot password?“

 4. Enter your email

 5. Click “Send“

 6. Open the email from Houzz and follow the link to set a new password.

Also, be careful with emails or messages about your Houzz account, home
projects, design offers, or contractor recommendations. 

This breach included emails, names, locations, IP addresses, passwords, and
links to social media profiles, so fake messages may feel more personal than
usual.


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.