Is Your Email in the Reported Body Magazine Data Breach? 564 Records

HEROIC analysts logged a reported data breach for Body Magazine, dated August 1, 2023. The report lists 564 records and names three types of data: email addresses, plaintext passwords and password hashes. The report is unconfirmed. Entering your own address in a scan is the only way to learn whether it is listed.

Two Password Types in One Report

The report names both a plaintext password type and a password hash type. It does not say how the two relate, and it does not say that any single entry holds both. What it does tell you is that readable passwords and scrambled passwords are both part of the claim.

The Three Types Listed

• Email addresses, the sign-in name for online services, and the target of messages that use the site's name.
• Plaintext passwords, readable as typed, so no recovery step stands in the way.
• Password hashes, scrambled passwords, with no method named, whose strength is not known.

What Both Types Mean for a Reused Password

For a plaintext password, reuse is the whole story: the password can be tried on other services as it stands. For a hash, reuse matters because a weak password can sometimes be recovered. In both cases, the sensible step is the same, which is to treat any shared password as exposed.

Reading the Report With Care

A database record lists what one service held about its users. This one is reported and unconfirmed, and the post makes no statement beyond what the report lists. Keep that in mind when you read any figure attached to it.

Is Your Address on the List?

Settle the question: scan your email and see your information. If the scan matches, change the Body Magazine password and every other password that was identical. Work and personal addresses should each be entered. Add two-factor sign-in to the services that matter to you, and give each site its own password from here on.