The 2013 Adobe Data Breach: What Really Happened?

In early October 2013, Adobe, the multinational software company behind popular products like Photoshop and Acrobat, suffered one of the biggest data breaches of its time. Attackers managed to access and leak information tied to more than 152 million accounts. The breach exposed internal Adobe user IDs, usernames, email addresses, encrypted passwords, and password hints, the latter sometimes stored in plain text. While the passwords themselves were encrypted, the method used was weak and allowed many of them to be cracked relatively quickly once the data was leaked. The exposure of unencrypted password hints further compounded the risks, giving attackers clues that might help unravel users’ login credentials across Adobe and possibly other services.

What Information Was Exposed?

The data breach resulted in the compromise of several sensitive fields:

• Email addresses of account holders
• Encrypted (hashed) passwords
• Usernames and internal Adobe IDs
• Password hints, some left as plain text

The combination of these elements made it easier for malicious actors to try to gain access to not just Adobe accounts, but any other account where users recycled passwords or used similar hints.

How Many People Were Impacted?

The breach affected a staggering 152,989,531 records. This scope made the Adobe breach one of the largest incidents involving user credentials up until that point. Individuals and businesses alike were impacted, with email addresses from all over the world scattered throughout the dataset.

Timeline of the Adobe Breach

Adobe publicly acknowledged the breach on October 4, 2013. However, evidence later suggested the initial access may have occurred sometime prior, as attackers typically spend time inside a system before extracting and leaking data. News of the leak, and publication of portions of the dataset on various hacking forums, followed soon after Adobe’s disclosure, heightening concern and urgency among affected users. In the years since, details about the breach have continued to surface as the dataset has circulated widely online.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Adobe Breach

What data was exposed in the 2013 Adobe data breach?

The 2013 Adobe breach exposed email addresses, usernames, encrypted passwords, and password hints for over 152 million accounts.

How many accounts were affected by the Adobe breach?

A total of 152,989,531 Adobe accounts were affected when the breach occurred in October 2013.

What was the risk for Adobe users after the breach?

Users faced risks due to exposed credentials: the weak encryption used on passwords allowed them to be cracked more easily, and password hints stored in plain text gave attackers additional help uncovering passwords. Those who reused passwords on other sites were especially vulnerable to further compromise.

How can I check if I’m in the Adobe breach?

You can check if your information was part of the Adobe breach by utilizing the DeHashed search engine.