Security Breach Notification Sent to Over 200 Million Paid Members
"Passwords and Payment Information Unaffected," Claims Pornhub
A major data breach has occurred at Pornhub, an overseas adult website that is inaccessible in South Korea, exposing the personal data and search and viewing histories of paid members on a large scale. A hacker group claims to have obtained information related to more than 200 million premium accounts and has reportedly demanded payment in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. On December 16 (local time), the Daily Mail reported that Pornhub had notified over 200 million paid members of the security breach.
The incident originated from the system of Mixpanel, a third-party traffic analytics provider previously used by Pornhub. Cybercriminals reportedly accessed data from this analytics platform and stole analytical event information such as paid members' email addresses, location data, search keywords, viewing and download histories, and access times. The hacker group claims that the stolen data amounts to approximately 94GB, comprising more than 200 million individual records.
In an official statement, Pornhub clarified that this incident was a data access event at Mixpanel, not a breach of Pornhub's own systems, and that no passwords, login credentials, payment information, or identification documents-core account information-were leaked. Pornhub also explained that its partnership with Mixpanel ended in 2021, making it highly likely that most of the leaked records are from the past. The hacker group has reportedly demanded payment from Pornhub in exchange for not releasing or deleting the data. This group has a history of threatening various companies and platforms with data leaks and public disclosures over the past several years.
Data breaches signify more than just simple numbers. Security experts warn that unlike typical password leaks, behavioral data such as users' search and viewing histories carry a high risk of leading to social reputation damage and privacy violations. The Asia Business Daily
Previously, in 2015, data from adult services such as Ashley Madison was leaked, bringing users' personal identities and activity information into the public eye. The mass leak at that time sparked social controversy and issues of defamation. Data breaches signify more than just simple numbers. Security experts warn that, unlike common password leaks, behavioral data such as users' search and viewing histories pose a significant risk of social reputation damage and privacy violations. This information can lead to serious "reputational risk" and "social stigma."
Therefore, recent large-scale data breaches serve as a warning about the security vulnerabilities not only of individual passwords but also of entire third-party services and supply chains. Experts point out that traditional security measures alone are insufficient to fully defend against the complexity of modern systems, which are interconnected with various cloud and analytics tools.
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