Elance data breach

What happened

Sometime in 2009, staffing platform Elance suffered a data breach that impacted 1.3 million accounts. Appearing online 8 years later, the data contained usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and SHA1 hashes of passwords, amongst other personal data.

What data leaked

• Email addresses
• Employers
• Geographic locations
• Passwords
• Phone numbers
• Usernames

What to do if you had an account

1. Change the password. Change your password on this service. If you used the same password anywhere else, change it there too: attackers try leaked email and password pairs on other sites automatically. A password manager makes one unique password per site practical.
2. Turn on two-step sign-in. Enable two-factor authentication where the service offers it, preferably with an authenticator app or a passkey. A leaked password alone is then not enough to get in.
3. Expect targeted phishing. Leaked contact details are used to write convincing fake messages that mention the breached company or your real name. Do not click links in unexpected emails or texts about this account; go to the site by typing its address.
4. Watch for scam calls and SIM swaps. Be suspicious of calls and texts that claim to be from your bank or a courier. Ask your mobile operator for a port-out or SIM-change PIN if it offers one.

Check your email at haveibeenpwned.com

We do not run email lookups ourselves. The search is done on haveibeenpwned.com, the service this list comes from.