Guide-HS (HKeSports)

We're seeing a concerning rise in breaches affecting smaller, niche online communities, often overlooked in favor of larger, more prominent platforms. Our team encountered one such incident during routine monitoring of known breach aggregation sites. What struck us wasn't the volume of records, but the specific target: Guide-HS, an online platform dedicated to guides for Hearthstone and other card games under the umbrella of HKeSports. The breach, dating back to July 2018, highlights the persistent risk even seemingly low-profile websites pose, especially when they cater to dedicated user bases.

The Guide-HS Breach: 23,503 Records Exposed

The Guide-HS breach involved the exposure of 23,503 user records. This data, originating from a database or combolist, included both email addresses and MD5 hashed passwords. The exposed data was posted on a prominent hacking forum, a common pattern for older breaches where the initial compromise might have gone unnoticed for some time. While MD5 hashing is considered weak by modern standards, the re-use of even weakly protected credentials across multiple platforms remains a significant risk.

Breach Stats:

* Total records exposed: 23,503
* Types of data included: Email Addresses, Password Hashes (MD5)
* Sensitive content types: User Credentials
* Source structure: Database/Combolist
* Leak location(s): Prominent hacking forum
* Date of first appearance: July 12, 2018

External Context & Supporting Evidence

While specific news coverage of the Guide-HS breach is limited given its age, the incident aligns with a broader trend of breaches impacting gaming communities. Data breaches impacting gaming communities are regularly observed. For example, in August 2020, ZDNet reported on a breach affecting Nintendo, exposing over 160,000 accounts.

Email · Address · Password · Hash