HEROIC Analysts Log a 350 Record Plaintext Password Combolist

Plaintext is the word that should catch your attention here. HEROIC analysts logged a combolist dated 18 Jun 2020 containing 350 records, and every password in it sits in readable text, paired with an email address and the URL it was pulled from.

Why Readable Passwords Change the Math

When passwords are hashed, an attacker has to spend time and computing power cracking them before anything is usable. Plaintext skips that step entirely. Anyone who gets this file can start logging into accounts within minutes of opening it.

What Was Exposed

• Email addresses: the identifier tied to each password in the set.
• Plaintext passwords: usable immediately, with no cracking step standing between an attacker and the account.
• URLs: tell an attacker exactly where each credential logs in.

Why This Matters

A readable password that still works is the fastest route to account takeover that exists. If any of these 350 people reused that password anywhere else, the exposure spreads well beyond the original site listed in the file, and an attacker only needs to try it once to find out.

How This Kind of Combolist Forms

Combolists like this are stitched together from older breaches, phishing hauls, and scraped credential dumps, then packaged and shared as one file. A plaintext password inside one usually means it was exposed unencrypted somewhere along that chain.

How Can You Tell if Your Password Was in This File?

The only reliable way to know is to scan your email and check your address against this leak and others HEROIC tracks. If you get a match, change that password now and make sure it is not reused on any other account you own. This applies equally to personal inboxes and work email addresses, since a readable password protects an account only as well as it is kept unique.