Exact Sciences data breach: 10.9M accounts exposed
Severity: high · Patch status: no-fix-needed · Since 2026-08-07
In July 2026, Exact Sciences (now owned by Abbott Laboratories) was the target of a ShinyHunters "pay or leak" extortion campaign. The group claimed to have obtained data from the company's cancer diagnostics business, which they later published publicly. The breach contained 10.9M unique email addresses belonging to customers, patients and healthcare providers, along with names, addresses, phone numbers and health records. Abbott subsequently published a public notice advising that "some of the impacted files contain personal information and/or personal health information" and that more specific information would follow once their review of the incident was complete. For context, Exact Sciences is the maker of the Cologuard at-home colorectal cancer screening test. Exposed data: dates of birth, email addresses, genders, names, personal health data, phone numbers, physical addresses. The breach dates from Jul 15, 2026; Have I Been Pwned loaded it on Aug 7, 2026.
What to do
- If you had a Exact Sciences 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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