Pornhub premium members' search history data hacked

Hackers have compromised the search history and viewing habits of premium users on the Canadian-owned adult website, Pornhub, reportedly accessing over 200 million records. The incident was carried out by the group known as ShinyHunters, which has reportedly obtained the email addresses of premium members, their search activity, and their locations. Pornhub confirmed receiving an extortion demand from the group, with claims of a member seeking payment in bitcoin to delete the sensitive data. The personal data breach stems from an attack on Mixpanel, a data analytics company that worked with Pornhub until 2021, meaning the affected data may not be recent. Pornhub reassured users that no passwords, payment details, or financial information had been compromised, stressing this was not a breach of their systems. The Guardian article notes that cybersecurity firm Sophos reported finding no evidence that the stolen data had been shared on leak sites associated with ShinyHunters or in relevant online forums.

Training Announcement: The IAPP Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) is a privacy-focused professional IT certificate from the IAPP that addresses data protection requirements and controls within complex technological environments. It explores the data lifecycle, privacy risk models and frameworks, the principles of Privacy by Design, and the role of privacy-enhancing technologies within the organisation. Find out more.