Data breach
XKCD data breach
561,991 accounts · breached July 1, 2019
What happened
In July 2019, the forum for webcomic XKCD suffered a data breach that impacted 562k subscribers. The breached phpBB forum leaked usernames, email and IP addresses and passwords stored in MD5 phpBB3 format. The data was provided to HIBP by white hat security researcher and data analyst Adam Davies.
What data leaked
- Email addresses
- IP addresses
- Passwords
- Usernames
What to do if you had an account
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.