Edmodo edmodo.com Edmodo data breach: what happened and what to do
In May 2017, hackers took Edmodo account data and offered it for sale. Have I Been Pwned counts about 43 million unique email addresses. The data included usernames, email addresses and bcrypt-hashed passwords. Edmodo said it was investigating and had contacted law enforcement.
View all 13,115 breaches- Breach date
- 11 May 2017
- Affected
- 43,423,561
- Data exposed
- Email addresses, Passwords, Usernames
- Verified
- Yes
- Last updated
Source: Have I Been Pwned (CC BY 4.0)
What happened
In May 2017, news outlets reported that a hacker was selling account details taken from Edmodo, a classroom platform used by teachers, students and parents. The seller claimed 77 million accounts. The data was later published for free, and Have I Been Pwned added it in June 2017.
Have I Been Pwned's analysis found 77 million records but a smaller number of people: about 43 million unique email addresses. Edmodo said at the time that it was investigating and had notified law enforcement.
What was exposed
The records held usernames, email addresses and bcrypt hashes of passwords. Bcrypt is a slow, deliberate way of scrambling passwords, which makes mass cracking harder. It doesn't make a weak or reused password safe. Short and common passwords can still be guessed.
What it means for you
An email address tied to a classroom platform tells a scammer a lot: you're probably a teacher, a parent or a former student. That makes school-themed phishing more convincing. If you used the same password on Edmodo and elsewhere, attackers can try it on your email, shopping and banking logins. Any password you reused is the part you can still fix.
The leak is from 2017, so the risk now is mostly old passwords you still use and an email address that stays on spam lists. Edmodo's passwords were hashed, which gives you more time than a plaintext leak would have, but only if you changed anything you reused.
What to do
Search your email on Have I Been Pwned to see whether you're one of the 43 million. If you are, change any password you shared with another site and switch on two-factor login. Expect school-flavored phishing for a while and don't click links in messages that mention an old class account.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Change the password, and every place you reused it
Change your Edmodo-era password, then change it on any other account that used the same or a similar one. A password manager makes a unique password for each site painless. Turn on two-factor login wherever it's offered.
- 2
Expect school-themed phishing
Messages that mention classes, grades, teachers or an old school account are a common lure after an education breach. Go to the school's site yourself instead of clicking a link.
- 3
Use a unique password for your email account
Your email account resets everything else, so it should not share a password with any other site, old or new.
- 4
Check whether your email or phone is in this and other breaches
Run a free Serus scan. Serus monitors breach databases and the dark web for your details and alerts you when they show up in a new leak, so you know when to repeat these steps.
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the Edmodo breach?
If you had an Edmodo account in 2017, possibly. Have I Been Pwned lists about 43 million unique email addresses. Search yours there or run a free Serus scan.
What data was exposed in the Edmodo breach?
Usernames, email addresses and bcrypt hashes of passwords.
Should I change my password?
Change it if you ever used your Edmodo password anywhere else. Hashed passwords are harder to crack, but weak or common ones can still be guessed.
Sources
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it.
