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BI

BitTorrent

Medium

The BitTorrent forum breach of January 2016 exposed 34,235 records, including usernames, emails, IPs, and insecurely hashed passwords.

Records exposed
34,235 records
Breach date
Breach Jan 1, 2016
Last update
Updated Jun 8, 2016

What data was exposed?

Fields reported as compromised in this breach record.

Email addressesIP addressesPasswordsUsernames

Why does this breach matter?

In-depth analysis of the breach and its implications.

In January 2016, a security breach occurred involving the forum associated with the BitTorrent application. The impacted forum, utilizing IP.Board software, suffered unauthorised access compromising sensitive user data. Exposed information included email addresses, IP addresses, usernames, and passwords, which were stored as SHA1 salted hashes, considered insufficiently secure by modern standards.

Impact Analysis

Understanding the scope and consequences of this breach.

User Impact
Exposed user accounts possibly faced credential compromise risks.
Business Impact
The event impacted user trust and demonstrated insufficient security controls.
Affected Sectors
  • Technology
  • Community Forums
Geographic Impact
  • Global

What You Should Do

Recommended actions to take in response to this breach.

If You Were Affected

  • Change your passwords for accounts using similar credentials.
  • Monitor for unusual activity on related accounts.
  • Use a password manager to ensure unique passwords for all accounts.

Preventive Measures

  • Use software with established security best practices.
  • Implement stronger password hashing methods such as bcrypt.
  • Educate users on the importance of unique and strong passwords.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this breach and what it means for you.

Use services like HaveIBeenPwned to check if your email address appeared in this breach.