Plaintext Passwords Found. 858,277 Accounts. The Kaidown Breach.

HEROIC analysts uncovered the Kaidown breach while scanning dark web sources for recirculating credential databases. In March 2018, a Thai general business website called Kaidown suffered a database breach that exposed 858,277 user records. The compromised data included email addresses and plaintext passwords, meaning passwords were stored with absolutely no encryption whatsoever. What makes this breach partcularly alarming is that even by 2018 standards, storing passwords in plaintext was an inexcusable security failure.

Why Plaintext Passwords Put You at Immediate Risk

When attackers get hold of plaintext passwords, there is no decryption step needed. They can use your exact password to log in to any account where you used the same credentials. Criminals routinely run these stolen email and password pairs against popular services like Gmail, PayPal, Amazon, and banking sites in what is called credential stuffing. If you recieved a login alert from another service around 2018 or any time since, this breach could be connected.

What Was Exposed in the Kaidown Breach

• Email Address
• Plaintext Password

Why a 2018 Thai Website Breach Still Matters Today

Old breaches do not expire. Stolen credentials from 2018 are still traded and sold on dark web forums today. Attackers compile datasets from dozens of old breaches into massive lists and use automated tools to test those logins across hundreds of websites simultaneously. If someone used their Kaidown email and password on even one other service, that account is accessable to any criminal who purchased this data. The risk is real and ongoing.

How a Database Breach Works

A database breach happens when an attacker gains unauthorized access to the back-end database of a website or application. This can happen through software vulnerabilities, weak administrator passwords, misconfigured servers, or SQL injection attacks. Once inside, the attacker can download the entire user table, which typically contains usernames, email addresses, and passwords. In the case of Kaidown, those passwords were stored without any protection at all, making this type of breach especially damaging.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC offers a free breach scanner that searches across more than 400 billion exposed records to tell you if your email address or password has appeared in a known data breach. If you or anyone in your organization had an account on Kaidown or any similar service, run a free scan now to find out exactly what was exposed and what steps to take next.