McGraw Hill Data Breach: What the mheducation Leak Actually Exposed
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In April 2026, extortion group ShinyHunters published data tied to McGraw Hill (mheducation.com) — 13.5 million unique email addresses with names, and in some records phone numbers and addresses. There is no settlement, and the one class action filed over the breach was withdrawn by the plaintiff in May 2026. Here is what is verified.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
What the Lawsuit Alleges
In April 2026, McGraw Hill was caught up in the wide-ranging ShinyHunters extortion campaign against Salesforce customers. Per McGraw Hill's own statement, the incident stemmed from a misconfigured webpage hosted on Salesforce's platform — not a compromise of McGraw Hill's Salesforce accounts, customer databases, courseware, or internal systems. When McGraw Hill did not pay by the group's April 14, 2026 deadline, ShinyHunters publicly released over 100 GB of data. Have I Been Pwned independently verified 13.5 million unique email addresses in the leak, alongside names and — inconsistently across records — phone numbers and mailing addresses. McGraw Hill states that Social Security numbers, financial account data, and student academic records were not involved. Note: this is a different incident from McGraw Hill's 2022 exposure of misconfigured AWS storage buckets.
Case Details
One proposed class action was filed: Hurtado v. McGraw-Hill, No. 2:26-cv-00469, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.), on April 17, 2026. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed it on May 5, 2026, and the court closed the case on May 21, 2026. In the federal court records we searched in October 2026 we found no other suit over the breach. Plaintiff law firms still run "investigation" intake pages.
Current Status
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There's no claim deadline yet. We'll email you if a settlement opens a claim period.
Who Is Affected & Can You Join?
If you have ever created an account with McGraw Hill / mheducation.com (students, instructors, parents, professionals), your email address may be among the 13.5 million exposed. You can check your address for free at Have I Been Pwned (haveibeenpwned.com), which added the verified dataset on April 16, 2026. There is nothing to "join": the only class action filed over this exposure was withdrawn by the plaintiff in May 2026, and McGraw Hill's quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2026 lists no breach litigation. If a class action is filed and settles later, class members would be notified; this page will be updated.
Is There a Payout?
Case Timeline
- 1
April 12, 2026: ShinyHunters lists McGraw Hill
The extortion group adds McGraw Hill to its leak site as part of a broad campaign against Salesforce customers; dark-web monitoring services report it publicly.
- 2
April 14, 2026: McGraw Hill confirms the incident
After the ransom deadline passes unpaid, McGraw Hill confirms the breach and attributes it to a misconfigured webpage hosted on Salesforce's platform — stating core systems, courseware, and student records were not accessed.
- 3
April 15–16, 2026: Data published and verified
ShinyHunters releases 100+ GB publicly. Have I Been Pwned adds the dataset on April 16 — 13.5 million unique email addresses with names, plus phone numbers and addresses in some records.
- 4
April–May 2026: One lawsuit, withdrawn
Multiple plaintiff firms open "data breach investigation" intake pages. On April 17, 2026 a proposed class action, Hurtado v. McGraw-Hill, is filed in federal court in Columbus, Ohio; the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses it on May 5, 2026.
- 5
July 13, 2026: Microsoft discloses the wider campaign
Microsoft details the year-long ShinyHunters Salesforce campaign (up to ~700 victim organizations), renewing press and university-IT attention to the McGraw Hill leak.
Scam & Misinformation Warnings
Whenever a brand lawsuit goes viral, scam sites and bad actors follow. Watch for these red flags:
"File your McGraw Hill claim" sites
There is no claim to file — no settlement exists, and the only lawsuit was withdrawn. Any site or email offering to file a McGraw Hill breach claim for you (especially for a fee or your SSN) is not legitimate.
Phishing emails impersonating McGraw Hill
The leak was mostly email addresses — expect convincing fake McGraw Hill password-reset or "account security" emails. Go to mheducation.com directly instead of clicking email links.
Confusion with the 2022 incident
Articles about terabytes of exposed student grades describe McGraw Hill's separate 2022 AWS misconfiguration. The 2026 ShinyHunters leak did not include grades or coursework.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a McGraw Hill settlement I can claim?
No. There is no settlement, and the only class action filed over the breach was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff on May 5, 2026; in the federal court records we searched in October 2026 we found no other. Law firms still run investigation pages. If that changes, eligible users would be notified through a court-approved process, and this page will be updated.
How do I check if my data was leaked?
Enter your email at haveibeenpwned.com — it independently verified the 13.5 million exposed addresses on April 16, 2026. If you're listed: change your McGraw Hill password (and anywhere you reused it) and watch for phishing.
Were Social Security numbers or grades exposed?
According to McGraw Hill, no — the incident involved a marketing-type dataset on a misconfigured Salesforce-hosted page: emails, names, and some phone numbers and addresses. SSNs, financial data, and student academic records were not part of the verified leak.
Why is this in the news again in July 2026?
Microsoft published details of the broader ShinyHunters Salesforce campaign on July 13, 2026, and universities have been re-circulating guidance to students and staff — which is why many people are only now hearing about the April breach.
Should I expect credit monitoring?
McGraw Hill has not announced any credit-monitoring offer, which is typical when no SSN or financial data is involved. Be skeptical of any email claiming to enroll you in "McGraw Hill credit monitoring" — that pattern matches phishing, not the company's actual response.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.