Was I in the Internet Archive breach?
Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital library of websites. Its breach happened in September 2024 and exposed 31,081,179 accounts. It included passwords, email addresses and usernames. If you had an account there by September 2024, 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.
What happened?
The Internet Archive, a digital library that preserves websites, suffered a breach in September 2024. User records were exposed, including email addresses and screen names. Passwords were held as bcrypt hashes.
- Organisation
- Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library of websites (archive.org)
- When it happened
- September 2024
- Added to monitored breach databases
- 9 October 2024
- Accounts in the data
- 31,081,179
- What was exposed
- passwords, email addresses and usernames
The breach record cites a public report on bleepingcomputer.com.
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 detailsusernames
On their own these carry less risk, but they make a scam message sound more personal.
What should I do now?
In this order, for what this breach exposed.
1. Change the password, and every reuse of it
- Change your Internet Archive 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.
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
Where does this come from?
- The breach record in monitored breach databases: dates, account count and what was exposed. What happened is in our own words.Read 14 October 2026
- CISA: Use strong passwordsRead 14 October 2026
- Get Cyber Safe (Government of Canada): Password managersRead 14 October 2026
- CISA: More than a password (multi-factor authentication)Read 14 October 2026
- Get Cyber Safe (Government of Canada): Multi-factor authenticationRead 14 October 2026
- CISA: Recognize and report phishingRead 14 October 2026
- Get Cyber Safe (Government of Canada): Fact sheet on phishingRead 14 October 2026