Pornhub Premium users' data at risk as hackers demand ransom
What's the story
ShinyHunters, a notorious hacking group, has claimed to have stolen sensitive data of Pornhub's premium users. The group is now demanding a ransom in Bitcoin to delete the information and prevent its release. While the full extent of the breach remains unclear, ShinyHunters has provided a small sample of the data to Reuters, some of which has been partially verified.
Data verification
Former users confirm authenticity of leaked data
At least three former Pornhub Premium customers, two Canadian men and an American man, have confirmed to Reuters that the information related to them appears genuine but is several years old. The sensitive nature of the website and potential consequences of exposure led all three to speak on condition of anonymity.
Website overview
Pornhub's popularity and subscription details
Pornhub, one of the most popular adult websites in the world with over 100 million daily visits, offers a paid "Premium" subscription. This subscription comes with benefits like high-definition videos, an ad-free experience, and virtual reality content. ShinyHunters claims that the stolen data pertains to users of this premium service.
Data breach
Hackers shared information of 14 premium users
The hackers have shared information they claim belongs to 14 premium users. Reuters was able to match details of six people in the dataset with information from earlier data leaks that had circulated online and were tracked by District 4 Labs, a dark web intelligence firm. Three of those individuals confirmed they had once subscribed to Pornhub Premium.
Incident investigation
Claims and Mixpanel's denial
ShinyHunters has insisted that the data is linked to a recent incident involving Mixpanel, a third-party analytics company Pornhub works with. However, Mixpanel has denied these claims, saying it thoroughly investigated the breach with external cybersecurity experts and confirmed that Pornhub was not affected. The company also said that Pornhub's data was last accessed by a legitimate employee account at Pornhub's parent company in 2023.
Group's background
ShinyHunters's history and Pornhub's response
ShinyHunters is no stranger to the spotlight, having been linked to several high-profile data breaches and extortion attempts in recent months. These include attacks against Salesforce customers and luxury retailers in the UK. Meanwhile, Pornhub has confirmed that some Premium user data has been compromised due to a cybersecurity incident involving a third-party data analytics service provider.