Avvo data breach: 4.1M accounts exposed
Severity: high · Patch status: no-fix-needed · Since 2022-04-15
In approximately December 2019, an alleged data breach of the lawyer directory service Avvo was published to an online hacking forum and used in an extortion scam (it's possible the exposure dates back earlier than that). The data contained 4.1M unique email addresses alongside SHA-1 hashes, most likely representing user passwords. Multiple attempts at contacting Avvo over the course of a week were unsuccessful and the authenticity of the data was eventually verified with common Avvo and HIBP subscribers. Exposed data: email addresses, passwords. The breach dates from Dec 17, 2019; Have I Been Pwned loaded it on Apr 15, 2022.
What to do
- If you had a Avvo account, change its password and the password of any other account that reused it.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication wherever it is offered.
- Check whether your addresses are in this breach at https://haveibeenpwned.com.
- Expect targeted phishing that quotes the leaked details; verify any unexpected contact out of band.
Sources
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