Breach Database / dBforums
Yes — dBforums was breached.
- 363,468 accounts affected
- Breach occurred 2016-07-04 · dbforums.com
- Verified entry in the Have I Been Pwned catalog
What happened
In July 2016, a data breach of the now defunct database forum "dBforums" appeared for sale alongside several others hacked from the parent company, Penton. The breach of the vBulletin based forum contained 363k unique email addresses alongside usernames, IP addresses, dates of birth and salted MD5 password hashes.
What data was exposed
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- IP addresses
- Passwords
- Usernames
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.
- 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.