Data & Leads
MEDIUM RISKData breach — November 2018
In November 2018, security researcher Bob Diachenko identified an unprotected database believed to be hosted by a data aggregator. Upon further investigation, the data was linked to marketing company Data & Leads. The exposed Elasticsearch instance contained over 44M unique email addresses along with names, IP and physical addresses, phone numbers and employment information. No response was received from Data & Leads when contacted by Bob and their site subsequently went offline.
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What happened in the Data & Leads data breach?
In November 2018, security researcher Bob Diachenko identified an unprotected database believed to be hosted by a data aggregator. Upon further investigation, the data was linked to marketing company Data & Leads. The exposed Elasticsearch instance contained over 44M unique email addresses along with names, IP and physical addresses, phone numbers and employment information. No response was received from Data & Leads when contacted by Bob and their site subsequently went offline.
The exposed data included 7 types of personal information. Learn more about what a data breach means for you.
Quick answer — was Data & Leads hacked?
Yes. Data & Leads was breached in November 2018. The breach exposed 44,320,330 records including email addresses, employers, ip addresses. This breach has been independently verified. If your email was involved, your data may still be at risk today. Check if you were affected.
Why was the Data & Leads breach so dangerous?
The Data & Leads breach exposed 44,320,330 records — that is 44.3M people whose personal data is now circulating on the dark web. The combination of email addresses, employers, ip addresses makes this a medium-risk breach that should be addressed promptly.
Don't wait to find out — check if your email was exposed in this breach now.
What data was stolen in the Data & Leads breach?
Email addresses — used for phishing attacks and credential stuffing against your other accounts
Employers — may be combined with other breach data to build a profile for targeted attacks
IP addresses — combined with other data, used for identity theft and physical fraud
Job titles — may be combined with other breach data to build a profile for targeted attacks
Names — used to build profiles and target you with personalised scams
Phone numbers — enables SIM swapping attacks and targeted SMS phishing scams
Physical addresses — combined with other data, used for identity theft and physical fraud
Is the Data & Leads breach still dangerous in 2026?
Yes. Stolen data from the Data & Leads breach remains dangerous years after the incident. Research shows that over 65% of stolen credentials from older breaches have never been changed by the account holders. Attackers routinely compile data from multiple breaches to build complete profiles, and credentials from 2018 are still actively used in credential stuffing attacks today.
Personal information like email addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth never expire. Even if you changed your Data & Leads password, the other exposed data can be combined with information from other breaches to target you. Learn more about how long stolen data stays dangerous.
Frequently asked about the Data & Leads breach
Approximately 44,320,330 user records were exposed in the Data & Leads breach in November 2018.
Yes. Leaked credentials are actively used in credential stuffing attacks years after a breach. If you reused your Data & Leads password elsewhere and haven't changed it, those accounts remain at risk today.
Enter your email in the free checker on EmailLeaked. We scan 12 billion+ breach records including the full Data & Leads dataset and tell you instantly whether your email was exposed and what data was taken.
Change your Data & Leads password immediately, change any other account where you used the same password, enable two-factor authentication on all important accounts, and monitor for phishing emails over the next 90 days.
Who was affected by the Data & Leads breach?
The Data & Leads data breach affected approximately 44,320,330 users who had accounts with the service. With 44.3M records exposed, this is one of the larger breaches tracked in our database of 970+ known breaches.
If you ever created an account with Data & Leads or used their services, your data may have been included in this breach. Check your email now to find out. You can also read our guide on what to do immediately after a data breach.
If your email was in the Data & Leads breach
Change your Data & Leads password immediately
Go to Data & Leads and change your password right now. Use a strong, unique password that you have never used anywhere else.
Change any account sharing that password
If you used the same password on other sites, change it on every one of them. Attackers test stolen credentials on hundreds of popular sites within hours.
Enable two-factor authentication
Turn on 2FA on Data & Leads and every important account. Even if your password is known, attackers cannot get in without the second factor.
Check your other accounts for this breach
Run a full email check to see every breach your email appears in — not just this one.
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