The Cistes Breach Made Credential Stuffing Easier for 105,420 Gamers

HEROIC analysts identified a breach connected to Cistes, a French gaming site at cistes.net, that exposed 105,420 user records. The breach dates back to November 28, 2015, and the exposed data set includes email addresses and passwords stored in plaintext.

Why the Cistes Breach Makes Attacks Easier for Everyone Involved

Storing passwords in plaintext removes the one obstacle that normally slows attackers down: cracking. There is nothing to crack here, the password sitting next to each email address is exactly what the user typed when they signed up. At a scale of over 105,000 accounts, that turns this breach into a ready-made list attackers can plug straight into automated login tools with no extra work required.

What Was Exposed in the Cistes Breach

• Email addresses
• Passwords (stored in plaintext)

Why This Matters for Cistes Users

Because there is no hashing to break, these email and password pairs can be tested against other services immediately, a technique called credential stuffing. If you had a Cistes account and reused that password on your email, gaming accounts, or anywhere else, that account could be exposed right now, regardless of how long ago you signed up for Cistes.

How a Plaintext Database Breach Happens

A plaintext password breach happens when a website never applies cryptographic hashing to user passwords before storing them. If attackers gain access to that database, through a software vulnerability, a misconfigured server, or a stolen credential, they get every password in fully readable form. That data is then usually packaged and sold or shared on hacking forums and Telegram channels, where it can keep circulating and resurfacing for years, as happened here a decade after the original breach.

Check If You Are Affected

With more than 105,000 plaintext passwords exposed, this breach is a significant, ready-to-use resource for credential stuffing attacks. HEROIC's free breach scanner checks your email address against a database of more than 400 billion leaked records, including this one, so you can find out in seconds whether your information was exposed and change any reused passwords immediately.