Data breach · August 2016

Was I in the MDPI breach?

MDPI is a Swiss scholarly open access publisher. Its breach happened in August 2016 and exposed 845,012 accounts. It included email messages, email addresses, IP addresses (where you connected from) and names. If you had an account there by August 2016, 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?

In August 2016, data was taken from an open Mongo DB database at MDPI, a Swiss open access publisher. It held email exchanges with authors and reviewers. MDPI confirmed the system is now secured and said nothing sensitive was involved, so it did not notify subscribers, as its authors and reviewers are listed on its website.

Organisation
MDPI, a Swiss scholarly open access publisher (mdpi.com)
When it happened
August 2016
Added to monitored breach databases
25 March 2018
Accounts in the data
845,012
What was exposed
email messages, email addresses, IP addresses (where you connected from) and names
02

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

  • Messages you wroteemail messages

    Private messages can hold personal details, and their exposure can be used to pressure or embarrass you.

  • 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 detailsIP addresses (where you connected from) and names

    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. Assume your messages can be read

  • Think about what you wrote on MDPI and who it names. Warn anyone whose details you shared.
  • If someone threatens to publish what you wrote unless you pay, do not pay. Keep the messages and report it to your local police.

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 2016

All breaches Breaches from 2016 Breaches that exposed private messages