Breach Database / Bitcoin Talk
Yes — Bitcoin Talk was breached.
- 501,407 accounts affected
- Breach occurred 2015-05-22 · bitcointalk.org
- Verified entry in the Have I Been Pwned catalog
What happened
In May 2015, the Bitcoin forum Bitcoin Talk was hacked and over 500k unique email addresses were exposed. The attack led to the exposure of a raft of personal data including usernames, email and IP addresses, genders, birth dates, security questions and MD5 hashes of their answers plus hashes of the passwords themselves.
What data was exposed
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- Genders
- IP addresses
- Passwords
- Security questions and answers
- Usernames
- Website activity
What to do right now
- Change your password for this service now. And change it anywhere you reused the same password — attackers try leaked passwords on other sites within hours ("credential stuffing").
- Turn on two-factor authentication. Even a leaked password is useless against an account protected by a second factor. Prefer an authenticator app over SMS.
- Reset security questions everywhere you used the same answers. Treat leaked security answers like leaked passwords — they rarely change and unlock account recovery.
- Expect convincing phishing emails. Attackers use breached details to write personalized emails. Be suspicious of any message referencing this service.
- Check your other accounts on Have I Been Pwned. Your email address may appear in other breaches you don't know about yet.
- Monitor the apps you use going forward. Clearly watches the breach record for the companies behind your apps and alerts you the moment one appears.
Breach data from Have I Been Pwned. Listing here means the service appears in the public breach record — not that your personal data was affected.