Breach Database / StarTribune
Yes — StarTribune was breached.
- 2.2 million accounts affected
- Breach occurred 2019-10-10 · startribune.com
- Verified entry in the Have I Been Pwned catalog
What happened
In October 2019, the Minnesota-based news service StarTribune suffered a data breach which was subsequently sold on the dark web. The breach exposed over 2 million unique email addresses alongside names, usernames, physical addresses, dates of birth, genders and passwords stored as bcrypt hashes. The data was provided to HIBP by dehashed.com.
What data was exposed
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- Genders
- Names
- Passwords
- Physical addresses
- Usernames
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.
- Watch for targeted phishing mail. A leaked home address makes postal and doorstep scams more convincing.
- 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.