Porn site Brazzers has hundreds of thousands of user details exposed in data breach

The attackers actually gained access through a discussion forum – which might be even more revealing than the porn site proper

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 06 September 2016 14:58 BST
Comments
The proposed law would require internet users in Utah to opt-out of the porn filters
The proposed law would require internet users in Utah to opt-out of the porn filters

Popular pornographic website Brazzers has been hacked, leaving hundreds of thousands of users’ viewing habits available to see on the internet.

Almost 800,000 people’s names and details have been made available on the internet after a cyber attack.

The exposure actually appears to have been leaked from the Brazzersforum site, where viewers discussed their favourite scenes and performers. But since the logins between that forum and the main site were shared, it meant that attackers were able to steal logins from the forum and use them on the site.

Security researchers said that the hack actually stealing forum details might be more embarrassing than the original logins to the site.

"Problem with a hack like that is it's a forum," security researcher Troy Hunt told Motherboard. "Worse than just adult website creds, this is what people were talking and fantasising about."

That data was stolen in 2013 but has only just become public.

The breach was confirmed by two security hackers who passed some of that evidence onto Motherboard. Researchers also contacted some of the people involved in the breach who confirmed anonymously that they had been users of the site.

It is not the first data breach that appears to be the result of vBulletin, the software that powers the forum. Administrators are required to keep that up to date to ensure that it is safe from attacks - but in this case and others, they appear not to have done so.

Brazzers has said that it has fixed those problems and taken measures to protect users and stop their logins being accessed.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in