Data breach · February 2014

Was I in the Forbes breach?

Forbes is a business news website. Its breach happened in February 2014 and exposed 1,057,819 accounts. It included passwords, email addresses, user website URLs and usernames. If you had an account there by February 2014, check your address below to see whether it is one of them.

Breach record last updated . Steps read from the government pages at the foot of this page.

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01

What happened?

The Forbes website was attacked in February 2014 and user accounts were leaked. The Syrian Electronic Army was blamed, reportedly as revenge for what it saw as hatred of Syria. Besides leaking login details, the attackers posted fake news stories on the site.

Organisation
Forbes, a business news website (forbes.com)
When it happened
February 2014
Added to monitored breach databases
15 February 2014
Accounts in the data
1,057,819
What was exposed
passwords, email addresses, user website URLs and usernames
02

What was exposed, and what does it mean for me?

  • Your passwordpasswords

    The password for this account was in the data, either as written or in a stored form that can often be reversed when the password is short or common. Anyone with the list can try it on your email, bank and shopping accounts.

  • Your email addressemail addresses

    Expect messages that look like they come from this service or another one you use, written to get you to click a link or sign in on a fake page.

  • Other detailsuser website URLs and usernames

    On their own these carry less risk, but they make a scam message sound more personal.

03

What should I do now?

In this order, for what this breach exposed.

1. Change the password, and every reuse of it

  • Change your Forbes password if the account still exists. Then change the same password on every other account where you used it, starting with your email.
  • Use a different password for each account. A password manager makes that practical: it creates long passwords and remembers them for you.
  • Turn on a second sign-in step, such as a code from an app or a security key, for your email, bank and social accounts. Your email comes first, because every password reset goes to it.

2. Expect phishing

  • Be wary of messages that urge you to act fast, ask for personal details, or link to an address that is slightly off.
  • If a message might be genuine, do not use its links or phone numbers. Go to the site by typing its address yourself.
04

Is my address in it?

Enter your email address. We check that one address against monitored breach databases and show which breaches list it and what each exposed.

No account needed. We keep the address you check, when, and how many breach records it was found in, to prevent abuse, until you ask us to delete it. Privacy

Sources

Where does this come from?

Other breaches from 2014

All breaches Breaches from 2014 Breaches that exposed passwords