Earth 2 data breach

Breach date: 2024-10-16. Added to this index: 2024-11-07. Accounts affected: about 421K. Domain: earth2.io.

What happened

In October 2024, 421k unique email addresses from the virtual earth game Earth 2 were derived from embedded Gravatar images. Appearing alongside player usernames, the root cause was related to how Gravatar presents links to avatars as MD5 hashes within consuming services, a feature Earth 2 advised has now been disabled on their platform. This incident did not expose any further personal information, passwords or financial data.

Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.

What was exposed

  • Email addresses: The email address you used to register or log in. It is the most common field in breaches because it doubles as your username on most sites.
  • Usernames: The handle or login name you chose for an account, which may be public on forums, games and social platforms or used privately to sign in.

What to do now

  1. Check whether your own address is in this dataset with the free email breach check.
  2. Review the accounts connected to this service and turn on two-factor authentication.
  3. Turn on two-factor authentication on your email account first, because it is the reset path for everything else.
  4. Treat calls and messages that quote real details about you as hostile until you verify them another way.

Frequently asked questions

What data was leaked in the Earth 2 breach?

The Earth 2 breach exposed Email addresses, Usernames. About 421K accounts were affected.

Was I affected by the Earth 2 breach?

Run the free email breach check with the address you used on that service. It will tell you whether your address appears in this dataset.

What should I do about the Earth 2 breach?

Treat any message that quotes details from this breach as suspicious, turn on two-factor authentication, and consider removing your details from people-search sites if your address or phone was included.

Next steps