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Data breaches → CyberServe

Was your data in the CyberServe breach?

2021 · cyberserve.co.il · ~1,107,034 accounts exposedCritical severity · 10/10

CyberServe (cyberserve.co.il) suffered a data breach in 2021 that exposed around 1,107,034 accounts. If you had an account, some of your personal data may be circulating in leaked databases. The fastest way to know is to check your own email — free, in about 30 seconds, no password required.

What happened

In October 2021, the Israeli hosting provider CyberServe was breached and ransomed before having a substantial amount of their customer data leaked publicly by a group known as "Black Shadow". Amongst the data was the LGBTQ dating site Atraf and the Machon Mor medical institute. Due to multiple different sites being compromised, the impacted data is broad and ranges from relationship information to medical data to email addresses and passwords stored in plain text. The data was made available to HIBP with support from May Brooks-Kempler, founder of the Think Safe Cyber community in Israel.

Breach details sourced from Have I Been Pwned, the industry-standard breach database. Risk analysis by Nullivo.

What was exposed, and why it matters

Not all breaches carry the same risk — what matters is which fields leaked. Here is what the CyberServe breach exposed and what each item actually enables:

Passwords

Attackers replay leaked passwords across other sites (“credential stuffing”). Because most people reuse passwords, one leak often unlocks email, shopping and banking accounts elsewhere.

Sensitive personal characteristics

Special-category data under UK/EU GDPR. Exposure can lead to discrimination, extortion or targeted harassment, and cannot be undone.

Private messages

Personal correspondence can be used for blackmail or social engineering, and often contains other sensitive details you have forgotten sharing.

Dates of birth

Date of birth is a permanent identifier used to verify identity by phone. Combined with a name and address it is often enough to impersonate you.

Phone numbers

Enables SIM-swap attacks (hijacking your number to intercept SMS codes), smishing, and voice scams that appear to come from your bank.

Location data

Reveals where you live, work or travel, which supports both targeted scams and physical-safety risks.

Names and usernames

Links this leak to your other accounts — a reused username lets anyone build a profile of you across platforms.

Email addresses

Puts you on spam and phishing lists, and confirms to attackers that you hold an account with this service — which makes impersonation emails more believable.

IP addresses

Reveals your approximate location and internet provider, which adds credibility to targeted scams.

Also listed in this breach: Dates of birth, Drinking habits, Email addresses, Family structure, Genders, Geographic locations, HIV statuses, IP addresses, Names, Passwords, Personal health data, Phone numbers, Physical attributes, Private messages, Profile photos, Religions, Sexual orientations, Smoking habits, Usernames.

What to do if you were affected

These steps are ordered for this specific breach — the most urgent action given what leaked comes first.

  1. Passwords: Change this password everywhere you have reused it, starting with your email account — whoever controls your email can reset everything else.
  2. Sensitive personal characteristics: Under UK/EU GDPR you have a strong right to erasure here — exercise it with the service and with any site republishing the data.
  3. Private messages: Consider what was discussed on this service and whether anything needs changing (shared passwords, personal disclosures).
  4. Dates of birth: Never confirm your date of birth to an inbound caller — hang up and dial the organisation back on a published number.
  5. Phone numbers: Move two-factor authentication off SMS to an authenticator app or passkey, and add a port-out PIN with your mobile provider.
  6. Check whether your own email appears in this breach — run a free scan to confirm before you spend time on the steps above.

This breach put your details on data-broker sites

Because CyberServe exposed sensitive personal characteristics, this is one of the breaches that feeds people-search and data-broker sites. Those sites scrape leaked databases, combine them with public records, and republish the result as a searchable profile — which is how a single breach turns into a permanent public listing. Removal works, but brokers typically re-list within about four months, so it has to be repeated.

See our broker-by-broker removal guides →

How urgent is this now?

This data has been circulating for around 5 years, which means it has been copied, combined with other leaks and indexed by search tools many times over.

Passwords are the reason breach age matters less than people expect. Leaked credentials are compiled into wordlists that get tried against new services for years afterwards, so a password exposed here is unsafe to use anywhere, ever again.

Remember: a breach can't be "un-leaked" — once a database is out, it exists in countless copies. The goal is to make the leaked data useless: change what can be changed, lock down what can't, and remove what has been republished.

Check if your email was exposed.Nullivo's free scan checks your own verified email against known breaches — including CyberServe — in 30 seconds. No password, no signup, and we only ever scan your own email. Run your free scan →

Frequently asked questions

What data was exposed in the CyberServe breach?

The CyberServe breach exposed passwords, sensitive personal characteristics, private messages, dates of birth, phone numbers, location data, names and usernames, email addresses, ip addresses. Attackers replay leaked passwords across other sites (“credential stuffing”). Because most people reuse passwords, one leak often unlocks email, shopping and banking accounts elsewhere.

How many people were affected by the CyberServe breach?

Around 1,107,034 accounts were exposed, making it a large breach.

What should I do if I had a CyberServe account?

Change this password everywhere you have reused it, starting with your email account — whoever controls your email can reset everything else. You can check whether your own email appears in this breach with a free Nullivo scan — no password required.

Breaches that exposed similar data

If the CyberServe breach affected you, these breaches exposed comparable information — worth checking too, since leaked datasets are routinely combined.

See all breaches we cover →