Crunchbase data breach
559,908 accounts exposed in a breach on 22 January 2026.
At a glance
559,908
Accounts exposed
22 January 2026
Date of the breach
14 October 2026
Added to Have I Been Pwned
What happened
In January 2026, the private company intelligence platform Crunchbase was targeted in a ShinyHunters "pay or leak" extortion attempt. Data allegedly obtained from the company was subsequently published publicly and included 560k unique email addresses, largely belonging to leads and business contacts. Other data included names, physical addresses, phone numbers, job titles, employers and LinkedIn
What was exposed
- Email addresses. Email addresses were exposed. Expect more spam and phishing aimed at those addresses.
- Employers. Employer names were exposed. Scammers use them to pretend to be a colleague or the workplace.
- Job titles. Job titles were exposed. Scammers use them to aim a message at the right person.
- Names. Names were exposed. Scammers use real names to make a message look personal.
- Phone numbers. Phone numbers were exposed. Expect scam calls and text messages, some of them pretending to be the organisation.
- Physical addresses. Home or postal addresses were exposed. They can be used to make a scam letter or a fake identity look real.
- Social media profiles. Links to social media profiles were exposed. Criminals use them to learn about you before they contact you.
What to do now
It depends on what was exposed, so these steps follow the list above.
If your contact details were exposed
- Expect more spam, scam calls and phishing. Do not click links or open attachments in messages you did not expect.
- If a message mentions this breach, do not reply. Go to the organisation's own website or app instead of using a link in the message.
Whatever was exposed
- Check your own email address and phone number at haveibeenpwned.com to see which other breaches include you.
- Keep an eye on your accounts for a few months. Breached data is often used long after the breach.
- If you think someone is using your details, report it to the organisation and to your national cyber crime reporting service.
Check your own exposure
- Have I Been Pwned: type your email address to see which breaches include it.
- Password leak check: find out whether a password has appeared in a breach. The password never leaves your browser.
- Free domain security scan: grade the email, DNS and website security of a domain you own.
Related breaches
Other breaches that exposed some of the same kinds of data.
Sharecare
In August 2026, the digital health company Sharecare was the target of a ShinyHunters "pay or leak" extortion campaign.
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- Employers
- Genders
- +6 more
Read what happened
Neogen
In August 2026, the food and animal safety organisation Neogen was the target of a ShinyHunters "pay or leak" extortion attempt.
- Email addresses
- Employers
- Job titles
- Names
- +3 more
Read what happened
CyrusOne
In August 2026, data centre operator CyrusOne was the target of a ShinyHunters "pay or leak" extortion attempt.
- Email addresses
- Employers
- Job titles
- Names
- +3 more
Read what happened