piZap 2017 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
piZap Online Photo Editing Platform Breach (2017): 41 Million User Accounts Including Passwords & Social Media Profiles Exposed
Online photo editing tool.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
19/100Breach Risk Index
10Data Value
10Market Recency
2477dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: piZap · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 8 references
Attack: Misconfiguration
Profile: Platform · Photo editing and design tools · Web-based creative platform · Global
Timeline: Breach (2017-12-07) · Indexed (Jul 16, 2019) · Year (2017)
Exposure: 41.8M records · 8 fields: Activity History, Email Address, Full Name, Gender, Geographic Location, Password, Social Media Profile, Username
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
piZap, an online photo editing and design platform, suffered a data breach in approximately December 2017 due to a misconfiguration. The compromised data was not publicly surfaced until February 2019, when it appeared for sale on a dark web marketplace alongside data from several other breached platforms. The breach affected 41.8 million user accounts. The exposed data included email addresses, names, usernames, genders, geographic locations, and website activity. Users who logged in via Facebook had their linked social media profiles exposed. Those who registered directly on piZap had their passwords exposed as SHA-1 hashes, a weak hashing algorithm that can be reversed with modest effort. Together, this combination of profile data and cross-platform identifiers allows attackers to build detailed pictures of individual users. No class-action litigation or regulatory enforcement specific to this breach has been documented. piZap did not make prominent public disclosures at the time the breach was discovered. Affected users face ongoing risks of account takeover, credential stuffing, and targeted phishing, particularly if they reused their piZap password on other services.
ObscureIQ assessment: Exposure enables account takeover, phishing, and targeting of creators or social-media users. Project history may also help attackers infer personal or commercial use patterns.
Breach Impact
In approximately December 2017 piZap suffered a breach that was discovered later and placed for sale on dark web markets in February 2019 alongside a collection of other platform data. The exposed dataset contained 42 million unique email addresses along with usernames, full names, genders, geographic locations, linked social media profiles, browsing activity data, and passwords. piZap did not make prominent public statements about the breach at the time of its discovery. No class-action litigation or regulatory action specific to this incident has been documented in public sources.
About piZap
piZap is a web-based photo editing and graphic design tool offering collage creation, text overlays, filters, and design templates to casual users. The platform is free to use with premium subscription options and is particularly popular with social media users creating shareable image content. It operates as a consumer creative platform with a global user base.
Why They Hold Your Data
Web-based design platforms collect user accounts, emails, project metadata, billing records, and usage activity tied to casual creative workflows.
Recent Developments
piZap continues to operate as a free photo editing tool. No major organizational changes have been publicly reported in the period surrounding or following the breach.
Data Points Exposed
8 verified field types
Activity History
Email Address
Full Name High
Gender
Geographic Location
Password Critical
Social Media Profile
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:Critical
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
- Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
- Social media account targeting and impersonation
Threat vectors:
- Behavioural profiling & blackmail
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Name-based social engineering
- Profile enrichment
- Pattern-of-life analysis & physical surveillance
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- Account impersonation & social graph harvesting
- Cross-platform tracking & credential stuffing
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 piZap breach?▾
piZap, an online photo editing and design platform, suffered a data breach in approximately December 2017 due to a misconfiguration. The compromised data was not publicly surfaced until February 2019, when it appeared for sale on a dark web marketplace alongside data from several other breached…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Activity History, Email Address, Full Name, Gender, Geographic Location, Password, Social Media Profile, 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
BreachForums_Official_Index
Cross-source
Dehashed
Cross-source
Keeper
Cross-source
leakfind
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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