Freecycle data breach impacted 7 Million users

The nonprofit organization Freecycle Network (Freecycle.org) confirmed that it has suffered a data breach that impacted more than 7 million users.

The Freecycle Network (TFN,) is a private, nonprofit organization that coordinates a worldwide network of “gifting” groups to divert reusable goods from landfills.

The organization confirmed that it has suffered a data breach that impacted more than 7 million users

In response to the incident, The Freecycle Network prompted users to reset their passwords after their credentials were compromised.

The security breach was discovered on August 30, exposed data includes usernames, User IDs, email addresses and passwords.

“On August 30th we became aware of a data breach on Freecycle.org. As a result, we are advising all members to change your passwords as soon as possible.” reads the data breach notice published by the organization. “The breach of data includes usernames, User IDs, email addresses and passwords. Because of the exposure of personal passwords we are taking every measure to quickly inform members about the need to change their passwords.”

The organizations recommend users who have shared the same password elsewhere to change it there as well. According to the notice, no other personal information was compromised and the security breach has been closed.

The Freecycle Network notified the incident to respective privacy authorities and is informing impacted users.

The organization urges users to remain vigilant of phishing emails, and avoid clicking on links in suspicious emails and downloading attachments.

The company has not shared details about the attack.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, data breach)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.