28K Hacked Credentials From Hacker-Newbie Just Hit the Dark Web

Hacker-Newbie was an Indonesian online forum that described itself as the "Largest Indonesian Hacker Newbie Community." In February 2012, the site suffered a database breach that exposed 28,368 user accounts. The stolen records included email addresses, password hashes, usernames, IP addresses, birthdays, and salts. The data has since circulated on dark web forums and Telegram channels, and continues to surface in aggregated breach collections today.

Why Hacker-Newbie Breach Is Dangerous

This breach exposed more than just login credentials. IP addresses and birthdays give attackers additional leverage beyond simple account access. Birthdays are commonly used for identity verification and security questions, and IP addresses help attackers confirm historical location or ISP details. Combined with a cracked password and email address, this is a valuble dataset for account takeover, targeted phishing, and identity fraud.

What Was Exposed in the Hacker-Newbie Leak

• Email Address
• Password Hash
• Username
• IP Address
• Birthday
• Salt

Why This Hacker-Newbie Data Puts You at Risk

The passwords were hashed using MyBB's format, which is based on MD5 and is vulnerable to brute-force cracking with modern tools. If you registered on Hacker-Newbie and reused that email and password on other platforms, those accounts may already be at risk. Attackers run seperate campaigns using this kind of breach data against email providers, social platforms, and banking services. The Indonesian user base also spread across Southeast Asia, meaning the impact extends well beyond the original community.

How Database Breaches Work

In a database breach, an attacker exploits a vulnerability in a site's software or server to access the backend database. At Hacker-Newbie, that meant extracting over 28,000 records in bulk, including every registered user's email, username, hashed password, IP address, and birthday. The data was then distributed through Telegram channels known for aggregating leaked credentials. Older breach data gets repackaged and resold, meaning it remains available to new buyers and appears in fresh attack campaigns immediatly after purchase.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach search checks your email against 400 billion+ compromised records, including data from the Hacker-Newbie dump. Search now to see if your information was part of this leak, and update your passwords before someone else tries them on your other accounts.