HongFire

We've been tracking a resurgence of older forum breaches appearing in aggregated credential stuffing lists. What caught our attention with the HongFire breach wasn't the volume of records, but the age of the incident and the continued presence of plaintext passwords. Many breaches from this era involved unsophisticated hashing algorithms, but the widespread storage of passwords in plaintext is particularly alarming and indicates a significant lapse in security practices at the time. This re-emergence highlights the long tail of risk associated with legacy breaches and the persistence of exposed credentials.

The Anime Forum Breach That Keeps on Giving: 653k HongFire Accounts Exposed

In March 2015, the anime and manga forum HongFire suffered a significant data breach. Discovered circulating again on several dark web forums in late 2024, the breach exposed over 653,000 user accounts. The data initially surfaced after a compromise of their vBulletin forum software. The re-emergence of this data underscores the enduring threat posed by older breaches, particularly those containing easily-cracked or plaintext credentials. The fact that these credentials are still in circulation nearly a decade later means they are actively being used in credential stuffing attacks.

The breach gained renewed visibility as it was added to several large compilations of leaked credentials being sold on Telegram and various hacking forums. The presence of plaintext passwords alongside salted MD5 hashes made this breach particularly valuable to attackers. The lack of modern hashing algorithms meant that even users who had not reused their passwords were at risk, as the passwords could be easily cracked. It's a stark reminder that security is not a one-time fix, but an ongoing process.

This incident matters to enterprises now because the re-emergence of older credentials fuels automated attacks. Even if your organization does not directly interact with anime forums, employees may have reused passwords exposed in this or similar breaches. Attackers often use these older credentials to target accounts on more valuable platforms, including corporate email and VPN access.

• Total records exposed: 653,127
• Types of data included: Email Addresses, Plaintext Passwords
• Sensitive content types: None specified beyond credentials
• Source structure: Database export (likely SQL)
• Leak location(s): Telegram channels, various breach forums
• Date of first appearance: March 1, 2015

External Context & Supporting Evidence

While specific mainstream media coverage of the original HongFire breach in 2015 is limited, the incident is listed in numerous breach databases and has been discussed on various security forums over the years. The reappearance of this data aligns with a broader trend of attackers targeting older breaches for credential stuffing attacks. Security researcher Troy Hunt's "Have I Been Pwned?" website includes the HongFire breach in its database, allowing individuals to check if their email address was compromised.

Discussions on hacking forums indicate that the HongFire credentials have been actively used in credential stuffing campaigns targeting various online services. One forum post claimed the credentials were "freshly cracked" and "working on multiple sites". This reinforces the idea that even older breaches can pose a significant threat if the exposed data is still valid and usable.