EyeEm 2018 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
EyeEm Photography Community & Marketplace Breach (2018): 19 Million User Accounts Including Passwords & Profile Bios Exposed
Photography community and marketplace.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
23/100Breach Risk Index
5Data Value
25Market Recency
511dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: EyeEm · Actor: GnosticPlayers (attributed to Kuroi’sh / Gabriel Kimiaie-Asadi Bildstein) · Sources: 6 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Platform · Photography sharing and licensing · Creative content marketplace · Global
Timeline: Breach (2018-02-28) · Indexed (Feb 12, 2025) · Year (2018)
Exposure: 19.9M records · 5 fields: Email Address, Full Name, Password, Profile Bio, Username
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
In February 2018, the photography platform EyeEm suffered a data breach exposing roughly 19.9 million records (about 19.86 million unique email addresses). Exposed data included email addresses, first names, usernames, profile bios, and passwords stored as SHA-1 hashes with salts. The data surfaced in 2019 within the large collection sold by the actor known as GnosticPlayers.
ObscureIQ assessment: Exposure enables phishing, creator impersonation, licensing fraud, and misuse of portfolio or buyer relationship data. Creator accounts may also reveal professional identity and revenue opportunities.
Breach Impact
SHA-1 hashing offers weak protection, so many passwords were recoverable, exposing reused credentials; inclusion in a widely traded multi-site collection amplified cross-service risk.
About EyeEm
EyeEm is a photography community and stock-image marketplace where photographers upload, license, and sell their images to a global audience.
Why They Hold Your Data
Creative content marketplaces collect creator identity, portfolio data, licensing activity, account records, and engagement history tied to photography sharing and commercial licensing.
Recent Developments
EyeEm notified users and required password resets after the incident. The stolen data later circulated as part of a large multi-site collection sold on dark-web marketplaces.
Data Points Exposed
5 verified field types
Email Address
Full Name High
Password Critical
Profile Bio
Username
Field names are shown in full for clarity and search visibility. Canonical machine keys are emitted only in this page’s structured data.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
Threat Activity:Moderate
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
Threat vectors:
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Name-based social engineering
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- Social engineering context
- Cross-platform tracking & credential stuffing
Threat Actor: GnosticPlayers (attributed to Kuroi’sh / Gabriel Kimiaie-Asadi Bildstein)
GnosticPlayers (attributed to Kuroi’sh / Gabriel Kimiaie-Asadi Bildstein)
Unknown
Attribution and method are based on available breach intelligence. Reported attack vector: Unknown.
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Change Reused Passwords
Update this account and anywhere you reused the password; use a manager.
Enable MFA Everywhere
Turn on multi-factor authentication on email first, then financial accounts.
Report & Recover
If you spot misuse, start an official recovery plan and report fraud.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the EyeEm breach?▾
In February 2018, the photography platform EyeEm suffered a data breach exposing roughly 19.9 million records (about 19.86 million unique email addresses). Exposed data included email addresses, first names, usernames, profile bios, and passwords stored as SHA-1 hashes with salts. The data surfaced…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Email Address, Full Name, Password, Profile Bio, Username.
What should I do if I was affected?▾
Change reused passwords, enable MFA, and (if identity or financial data is involved) freeze your credit and monitor your accounts.
Sources & References
Every claim on this page is traceable. This breach draws on:
Breach Index
Breach Index
Cross-source
9ghz
Cross-source
Dehashed
Cross-source
leakfind
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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