Adobe Data Breach

What happened?

In October 2013, 153 million Adobe accounts were breached with each containing an internal ID, username, email, encrypted password and a password hint in plain text. The password cryptography was poorly done and many were quickly resolved back to plain text. The unencrypted hints also disclosed much about the passwords adding further to the risk that hundreds of millions of Adobe customers already faced.

When did it happen?

The breach date in the public record is October 4, 2013. The record was added to the catalogue on December 4, 2013 and last updated there on May 15, 2022.

What information was reported as exposed?

• Email addresses
• Password hints
• Passwords
• Usernames

These are incident-level categories. The record does not prove that every category was exposed for every affected person.

Who may be affected?

This record may be relevant to people who had an account or other relationship with Adobe or used adobe.com around October 4, 2013. A catalogue entry does not establish that every customer was affected or that every listed data category applied to each person. Compare the record with an official notice addressed to you.

What should you do?

Choose actions that match the information involved. If you find signs that someone is using your identity, the Federal Trade Commission provides a personal recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.