What Happened?
On February 11, 2019, ShareThis became aware that it suffered a data security incident when it was informed that The Register published a story indicating that 16 companies, including ShareThis, were the victims of a data theft. We can tell from our initial investigations that email addresses, hashed passwords and some birth dates were impacted. The incident, unfortunately, only came to light when The Register reported that the hacker posted the data for sale on the dark web.
What Information Was Involved?
Although our investigation is ongoing, we believe that the incident occurred in or prior to July 2018 and your name, emails, dates of birth, and hashed passwords may have been acquired by an unauthorized person or persons. Please note that we have no indication that passwords have been used by the hacker or other unauthorized individual. As a result, your personal data may have been compromised.
What We Are Doing.
We value individuals’ privacy and deeply regret that this incident occurred. ShareThis has deactivated ShareThis accounts potentially associated with this incident. We are reviewing our internal systems and are in the process of working with forensic and data security experts to review this incident and to identify any additional measures we can take to further bolster our security.
How Will Individuals Know if They Are Affected?
ShareThis is sending emails to all individuals whose hashed password or date of birth is affected.
What Individuals Can Do.
ShareThis has already deactivated the ShareThis accounts potentially associated with this incident, so if you created an account prior to January 2017, you may no longer be able to log in. However, we recommend that impacted individuals change passwords for any other accounts for which they use the same or similar email address or password and take other appropriate steps to protect online accounts. We also encourage individuals to be cautious of spam or other phishing emails, including those that solicit personal data. You can also review the Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Personal Information below.
Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Personal Information
Maintaining the integrity of confidential information is extremely important to us. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this incident may have caused. We are continuing to investigate this matter and will take appropriate action to prevent future similar incidents.
For More Information.
Individuals with questions about this incident, as well as those who would like to know if they are affected, can email us at [email protected].
Other Steps Individuals Can Take to Protect Their Information