Canva 2019 Data Breach
Platform · Graphic design and content creation · SaaS design platform · Global
Canva Graphic Design Platform Breach (2019): 137 Million User Accounts Including Encrypted Passwords Exposed
Online design and publishing platform.
Confirmed · ObscureIQ Intelligence
Breach Risk Index i
34/100
Lower riskHigher risk
Moderate: notable exposure with meaningful misuse potential.
Data Sensitivity i
StandardExposed data is largely lower-sensitivity. Standard identity-protection precautions are advised.
137.5MRecords
2019Year
The Breach Risk Index (BRI) is a proprietary 0–100 score rating how dangerous a breach is right now, based on how recently the data has been circulating on the dark web and how valuable it is to attackers.
Breach Summary
Canva, the Australian graphic design platform used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, suffered a data breach in May 2019 when the hacker group GnosticPlayers, responsible for stealing data from dozens of companies totaling nearly a billion records, successfully accessed Canva's systems. Canva detected the intrusion while it was still underway and shut down the compromised server, limiting exposure to data created before May 17, 2019. Approximately 137 to 139 million user accounts were affected. The exposed data included email addresses, usernames, full names, and geographic locations. Around 61 million accounts also had password hashes stolen. Canva stored these passwords using bcrypt, a hashing method that is significantly harder to crack than older formats, but by January 2020 the attacker had cracked roughly 4 million of those hashes. Google OAuth tokens, used by people who logged into Canva via their Google account, were also exposed. No payment information was compromised. The practical risks include targeted phishing attacks, credential stuffing against other services where users reused the same password, and potential brand impersonation using personal details gleaned from the breach. Canva notified affected users the same day the breach was discovered and prompted password resets. In January 2020, after learning that 4 million hashed passwords had been cracked, Canva forced a password reset for all accounts that had not already updated their credentials. No regulatory enforcement action or legal settlement specific to this breach has been publicly documented. People affected by this breach should ensure they are not reusing the exposed password on any other service and should remain alert to phishing emails that may reference their Canva account.
Full threat analysis, exploitation vectors, and principal guidance below.
10 additional sections · verified field analysis · defensive doctrine
Querying breach corpus…
Cross-referencing exposed field types…
Resolving threat-actor attribution…
Compiling principal risk advisory…
137.5M records analyzed
About Canva
Canva is an Australian online graphic design and publishing platform that allows individuals and businesses to create visual content including presentations, social media graphics, posters, and documents using a drag-and-drop interface. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sydney, the company has grown into one of the most widely used design tools globally, serving hundreds of millions of users across free and paid subscription tiers. Canva is privately held and has been valued at over $25 billion.
Why They Hold Your Data
Design platforms collect user accounts, emails, passwords, and created content, often tied to business or personal projects.
Recent Developments
Canva has continued its rapid global expansion and has invested heavily in AI-powered design features, including generative image tools and automated design suggestions. The company has pursued enterprise market growth alongside its consumer and small business base. It has made several acquisitions to expand its capabilities including presentation and document creation tools.
Data Points Exposed
5 verified field types
Email Address
Full Name
Geographic location
Password High
Username
Breach Impact
On May 24, 2019, the hacker GnosticPlayers — responsible for breaching data from dozens of companies totaling nearly a billion user records — contacted ZDNet to announce they had breached Canva hours earlier. Canva detected the intrusion and shut down the compromised database server while the attack was still in progress, limiting the exfiltration window to data created before May 17. The breach affected approximately 139 million subscribers, exposing email addresses, usernames, names, geographic locations, and bcrypt-hashed passwords for roughly 61 million accounts, along with Google OAuth tokens for users who authenticated via Google. Canva notified users the same day and prompted password resets. In January 2020 Canva disclosed that approximately 4 million of the stolen bcrypt hashes had been cracked by the attacker, triggering a forced reset of all accounts that had not already changed their passwords. No payment information was compromised. No settlement or regulatory enforcement action specific to this breach has been prominently documented.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
• Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms | • Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses | • Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
Principal Risk Advisory
What this means for a principal
A consumer-service breach: contact and account data supports phishing, account takeover and profile enrichment. For a high-profile principal the main risk is credible impersonation and enrichment of existing exposure.
What You Should Do
- Reset any reused passwords and enable MFA on email first, then financial accounts.
- Do not use unofficial 'am I affected' lookups; several are themselves harvesting operations.
How ObscureIQ Can Help
- Corpus confirmation: determine whether and where the principal (plus household and staff) appear in this dataset and which specific fields are exposed for them.
- Exposure mapping: cross-reference the exposed identifiers against broker-available data to size and prioritize the principal's wider footprint.
- ThreatWatch tuned to this incident's identifiers and misuse pattern (impersonation and targeting patterns, not generic credential monitoring).
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