Data breach
Linux Forums data breach
275,785 accounts · breached May 1, 2018
What happened
In May 2018, the Linux Forums website suffered a data breach which resulted in the disclosure of 276k unique email addresses. Running on an old version of vBulletin, the breach also disclosed usernames, IP addresses and salted MD5 password hashes. Linux Forums did not respond to multiple attempts to contact them about the breach.
What data leaked
- Email addresses
- IP addresses
- Passwords
- Usernames
What to do if you had an account
- Change the password. Change your password on this service. If you used the same password anywhere else, change it there too: attackers try leaked email and password pairs on other sites automatically. A password manager makes one unique password per site practical.
- Turn on two-step sign-in. Enable two-factor authentication where the service offers it, preferably with an authenticator app or a passkey. A leaked password alone is then not enough to get in.
- Expect targeted phishing. Leaked contact details are used to write convincing fake messages that mention the breached company or your real name. Do not click links in unexpected emails or texts about this account; go to the site by typing its address.
Check your email at haveibeenpwned.com
We do not run email lookups ourselves. The search is done on haveibeenpwned.com, the service this list comes from.