3D isometric infographic of a cracked padlock on a server rack with four callout cards for Canvas, Rockstar Games, Kodak and Aura, the 2026 ShinyHunters breach scorecard
Cybersecurity

ShinyHunters Hacks in 2026, Rockstar, Kodak and More

Who the extortion gang hit, how they got in, and which numbers are confirmed versus only claimed.

techdailycareOct 12, 20267 min read
Quick Summary
ShinyHunters claimed 275 million Canvas records, 78.6 million Rockstar rows and 2.2 million Kodak records in 2026.
The entry point is usually a third-party tool or a phone call, not a direct break-in to the victim.
Most big numbers are the gang’s own claims, so read every figure as alleged until confirmed.
Rockstar Games
78.6M
Analytics rows claimed in April
Kodak
2.2M
Records claimed in June
Aura
~900K
Marketing records, vishing attack

Most people never hear from ShinyHunters directly. The first sign is usually an email from a company you forgot you gave your address to, saying “unauthorized third party” and “limited data.”

That is the odd part of this gang. They rarely go after you. They go after the vendor that holds your data on behalf of a hundred other brands, then post a countdown on a leak site and wait for the headlines to do the pressure work.

This article is a scorecard of 2026 so far. For each case you get what the victim confirmed, what the gang only claimed, and the one habit that would have made you safer.

Four Patterns Behind Every ShinyHunters Hack

The brands change. The playbook mostly does not.

Entry

The side door beats the front door

Stolen tokens from a SaaS integration, a misconfigured portal, or a convincing phone call. Not a movie-style break-in.

Pressure

A public countdown does the work

Leak-site posts come with a deadline, usually days away. The goal is a rushed decision and maximum press coverage.

Numbers

Claimed and confirmed rarely match

Victims say “limited.” The gang says millions. Both can be partly true until forensics finish.

You

Your data sits downstream

You are exposed through whoever stores your details, and the follow-up phishing is the part you actually feel.

They don’t pick the strongest lock.
They pick the weakest vendor.

The 2026 ShinyHunters pattern

How Big Are the Claims?

Record counts as claimed by ShinyHunters, not independently verified.

The 2026 Scorecard, Case by Case

What happened, what was confirmed, and what to take from it.

Canvas LMS (Instructure)

Confirmed + Claimed

In late April, ShinyHunters hit Canvas, the learning platform used by thousands of schools. Instructure tied the second attack to its Free-For-Teacher accounts and took Canvas offline during finals week.

The gang claimed about 275 million records across roughly 9,000 schools and about 3.65 TB of data. On May 12, Instructure said it reached an agreement with the attacker and that the data was returned and destroyed. Several outlets reported a payment, but Instructure has not detailed the terms.

It was also Instructure’s second ShinyHunters incident in about eight months, after a September 2025 Salesforce breach.

Takeaway: A deal with the gang is a promise from criminals. Treat any data in that set as still at risk.

Rockstar Games, twice in one year

Confirmed + Claimed

On April 11, ShinyHunters posted a “pay or leak” message with an April 14 deadline. Reports say the way in was Anodot, a cloud-cost analytics vendor whose stolen authentication tokens unlocked connected Snowflake accounts.

Rockstar confirmed that a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed through a third-party breach, with no impact on players. The gang claimed 78.6 million records of internal analytics.

In September, ShinyHunters claimed a second Rockstar leak of about 8.1 GB, including anti-cheat components. That claim was unconfirmed when it was reported.

Takeaway: The vendor you never see on the box can be the one that gets you breached.

Kodak

Confirmed + Claimed

In June, ShinyHunters claimed 2.2 million records of customer personal data and internal files, with a June 18 leak deadline. Kodak confirmed that an unauthorized third party temporarily accessed a limited set of company data.

Kodak has not said how the attackers got in or whether the claimed volume is accurate. That gap between “limited” and “2.2 million” was unresolved at the time of reporting.

Takeaway: Wait for the official breach notice before assuming your own data was in the set.

Aura, via a phone call

Confirmed

In March, ShinyHunters got into an Aura marketing database through vishing, which is voice phishing. About 900,000 records were taken. Even a security company was reached by a convincing call to the right employee.

Takeaway: Never approve a login, share a code, or install anything because a caller sounds official.

Oracle PeopleSoft campaign and the long list

Claimed

In June, the gang said it had compromised more than 100 organizations through hundreds of Oracle PeopleSoft instances. Reports in the same period tied the 2026 campaign to names such as Charter Communications, 7-Eleven, Medtronic, Vimeo, ADT and Vercel.

Takeaway: Platform-level attacks hit many victims at once, so one patch delay can become a mass leak.

Claimed is not confirmed

ShinyHunters wants maximum fear, so its numbers lean high and its evidence often arrives late. Companies lean the other way and say “limited.” Until a regulator filing or a forensic report lands, the honest label for most figures here is alleged.

What you can do this week

Use a unique password for every account, and move key accounts to passkeys where offered.
Check whether your email shows up in known leaks, then change the passwords on anything reused.
Treat every “we noticed a problem with your account” message after a breach as phishing until proven otherwise.
Hang up on any caller who asks you to approve a sign-in or read back a code. Call the company back on its public number.
If a company sends a breach notice, read which fields were exposed before deciding how much to worry.

You can’t stop the breach.
You can make the leak useless.

What this means for your accounts

The Bottom Line

1ShinyHunters is the defining extortion gang of 2026, with hits on Canvas, Rockstar, Kodak and Aura.
2Third-party tools and phone calls are the usual way in, so the weak point is often a vendor, not the brand.
3The biggest numbers are claims. Rockstar and Kodak confirmed only limited access.
4Paying or reaching a deal does not guarantee deletion, and the gang has returned to the same victim before.
5Your best defense is boring: unique passwords, passkeys, and a skeptical eye on every post-breach message.

FAQ

Who is ShinyHunters?

A data-theft and extortion group active since 2019. It steals data, posts the victim on a leak site with a deadline, and demands payment to stop the release.

Was my data in the Rockstar or Kodak breach?

Rockstar said no player data was affected. Kodak said a limited set of company data was accessed. If your details were included, you should receive an official notice from the company.

Did Instructure pay ShinyHunters?

Instructure said it reached an agreement and that the data was returned and destroyed. Several outlets reported a payment, but the company has not disclosed the terms.

What is the single best thing I can do?

Stop reusing passwords and turn on passkeys or app-based two-factor on your key accounts. Leaked data is far less useful when each login is unique.

Editor’s note

Figures and dates come from public reporting by Help Net Security, BleepingComputer, Bitdefender, The Register, AP, Dark Reading, Malwarebytes and Mitiga as of October 12, 2026. Numbers attributed to ShinyHunters are the group’s own claims unless stated otherwise.

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