Pornhub is dealing with an extortion attempt from a prominent hacking group that claims to possess sensitive data belonging to some of the site’s paying users. According to reporting by Reuters and The Guardian, the group known as ShinyHunters says it obtained email addresses along with search and viewing histories linked to a number of Pornhub Premium accounts. The hackers are demanding payment in Bitcoin in exchange for not publishing the data online and for allegedly deleting it.
The full scope of the breach remains unclear. Reuters reviewed a sample of the data and was able to verify portions of it. Three former Premium subscribers in the United States and Canada confirmed that the information associated with them was accurate, though several years old. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns.
ShinyHunters has not provided detailed information about how the data was obtained, but claims it is connected to a security incident involving Mixpanel, a data analytics company Pornhub previously worked with. Mixpanel disclosed a cybersecurity issue on November 27 but disputed the hackers’ claims, stating it has found no evidence that Pornhub data was compromised during that incident or at any other time. “If this data is in the hands of an unauthorized party, we do not believe that is the result of a security incident at Mixpanel,” the company said.
Cybersecurity outlet BleepingComputer notes that Pornhub and Mixpanel ended their business relationship in 2021, suggesting that if the breach is connected to Mixpanel, the affected data would likely date back to that year or earlier. ShinyHunters has previously targeted major companies such as Salesforce and Ticketmaster.