BreachForums (2025) data breach: 672K accounts exposed
Severity: high · Patch status: no-fix-needed · Since 2026-01-10
In October 2025, a reincarnation of the hacking forum BreachForums, which had previously been shut down multiple times, was taken offline by a coalition of law enforcement agencies. In the months leading up to the takedown, the site itself suffered a data breach that exposed a total of 672k unique email addresses across all tables, including within forum posts and private messages. The users table alone contained 324k unique email addresses, usernames, and Argon2 password hashes. Exposed data: email addresses, forum posts, passwords, private messages, usernames. The breach dates from Aug 11, 2025; Have I Been Pwned loaded it on Jan 10, 2026.
What to do
- If you had a BreachForums (2025) account, change its password and the password of any other account that reused it.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication wherever it is offered.
- Check whether your addresses are in this breach at https://haveibeenpwned.com.
- Expect targeted phishing that quotes the leaked details; verify any unexpected contact out of band.
Sources
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