Data breach · June 2021

Was I in the START breach?

START is a Russian streaming service. Its breach happened in June 2021 and exposed 7,455,386 accounts. It included passwords, email addresses, general locations and names. If you had an account there by June 2021, 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.

Check your address Read the steps
01

What happened?

Reports of an attack on the service emerged in August 2022. The exposed records held email addresses, the subscriber's country and a password hash. The service later confirmed it on Telegram and said the data came from 2021.

Organisation
START, a Russian streaming service (start.film)
When it happened
June 2021
Added to monitored breach databases
30 August 2022
Accounts in the data
7,455,386
What was exposed
passwords, email addresses, general locations and names
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 detailsgeneral locations 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. Change the password, and every reuse of it

  • Change your START 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 2021

All breaches Breaches from 2021 Breaches that exposed passwords