Breach Database / Ancestry
Yes — Ancestry was breached.
- 297,806 accounts affected
- Breach occurred 2015-11-07 · ancestry.com
- Verified entry in the Have I Been Pwned catalog
What happened
In November 2015, an Ancestry service known as RootsWeb suffered a data breach. The breach was not discovered until late 2017 when a file containing almost 300k email addresses and plain text passwords was identified.
What data was exposed
- Email addresses
- Passwords
What to do right now
- Change your password for this service now. And change it anywhere you reused the same password — attackers try leaked passwords on other sites within hours ("credential stuffing").
- Turn on two-factor authentication. Even a leaked password is useless against an account protected by a second factor. Prefer an authenticator app over SMS.
- Expect convincing phishing emails. Attackers use breached details to write personalized emails. Be suspicious of any message referencing this service.
- Check your other accounts on Have I Been Pwned. Your email address may appear in other breaches you don't know about yet.
- Monitor the apps you use going forward. Clearly watches the breach record for the companies behind your apps and alerts you the moment one appears.
Breach data from Have I Been Pwned. Listing here means the service appears in the public breach record — not that your personal data was affected.