Your 18.8 LOGS_CENTEER Data May Be at Risk: Here’s What You Need to Know

On August 18, 2022, a file called "18.8 LOGS_CENTEER" was uploaded to a public Telegram channel, containing 11,806 records taken from compromised devices. Each record included an email address, a plaintext password, and a URL, giving anyone who downloaded the file a complete set of working credentials. This is the kind of data that fuels account takeovers, and it has been in circulation for years.

Why This Is Dangerous

Having 11,806 records posted publicly on Telegram means the data was available to thousands of people with no restrictions. Unlike breaches that appear on locked forums or dark web markets, a public Telegram share requires no payment, no invitation, and no technical skill to access. Anyone with the channel link could download and use it.

The passwords were stored in plaintext, which is the worst-case scenario for anyone whose credentials were included. There is no hashing to slow attackers down, no salt to complicate cracking attempts. The password field in each record is the actual password, ready to use immediately against the associated account.

The volume of nearly 12,000 records also makes this file valuable for large-scale credential stuffing operations, where automated tools try the same email and password combination across hundreds of different websites. If you reuse passwords, a single entry in this log could expose multiple accounts at once.

What Was Exposed

• Email addresses from infected devices
• Plaintext passwords saved in browsers or captured during login
• URLs of websites and services the victims were accessing
• API host endpoints found on compromised machines
• Browser credential stores from multiple accounts per device
• Session tokens and authentication cookies captured during active use
• Device endpoint metadata from infected systems

Why This Matters

Data from 2022 is still dangerous today. Credentials that were not changed after this breach was published are still valid targets. Many people go years without changing passwords for accounts they use infrequently, and those are exactly the accounts that tend to get overlooked during cleanup after a breach.

Once a file like this enters the underground economy, it gets copied, merged with other lists, and recieved by dozens of criminal groups. The original Telegram post is just the starting point. By now, these 11,806 records have likely been folded into much larger combo lists used in ongoing attacks across the internet.

How Stealer Log Works

Infostealer malware gets onto victim machines through a variety of delivery methods, including phishing emails with malicious attachments, fake software installers, and drive-by downloads from compromised websites. The software installs itself without requiring admin access in many cases, making it difficult to detect through standard security prompts.

Once active, the malware scans the device for browser-saved credentials, session cookies, stored form data, and any locally saved passwords. It also captures information about which URLs are associated with those credentials. All of this gets bundled into a structured log file that is transmitted back to the attacker automatically.

The logs are then sorted, tested, and either sold or shared. Free distributions on Telegram, like the 18.8 LOGS_CENTEER file, serve as advertising for the operator's paid services or as a way of building reputation in criminal communities. Either way, real people's credentials end up publicly accessible.

Check If You Were Affected

Check your email against this breach and thousands of others for free at heroic.com. HEROIC's breach checker gives you an instant report on any known exposures tied to your email address, so you know exactly where you stand and what to do next.