65,719 Passwords From the business-gazeta Breach Surfaced With Phone Numbers

HEROIC analysts identified the business-gazeta (BUSINESS Online) database breach, which occured in December 2020 and exposed records belonging to 65,719 registered users of the Russian news platform. The leaked data included email addresses, first and last names, phone numbers, usernames, and bcrypt password hashes, representing a meaningful collection of personally identifiable information recieved by threat actors monitoring Eastern European data markets.

How Exposed Phone Numbers and Full Names Enable Targeted Fraud Against business-gazeta Users

When phone numbers, full names, and email addresses are combined in a single dataset, attackers can execute SIM-swapping attacks, voice phishing calls, and SMS-based fraud with a level of credibility that generic spam cannot achieve. Even though bcrypt hashing is relatively strong, the personal contact data in this breach is seperate from the password question and poses its own distinct threat to affected users.

What Was Exposed in the business-gazeta (BUSINESS Online) Breach

• Email Address
• First Name
• Last Name
• Phone Number
• Username
• Password Hash

Why a Russian News Platform Breach Carries Cross-Border Risk

Credentials and contact details from media platform accounts are partcularly valuable to attackers because journalists, business contacts, and professionals often register with genuine work email addresses and phone numbers. The exposure of 65,719 records from a Russian-language news outlet means that affected users face ongoing risk from phishing campaigns, account takeover attempts, and social engineering attacks regardless of their location.

How a Database Breach Works

A database breach occurs when an unauthorized party gains access to a platform's backend data store, typically through vulnerabilities in web applications, misconfigured access controls, or compromised administrative credentials. The attacker extracts user records and either sells the data on underground forums or uses it directly for credential stuffing and fraud campaigns.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner indexes more than 400 billion leaked records, including data from incidents like the business-gazeta breach. Enter your email address to instantly check whether your credentials or personal information have been compromised.