The Malakye Database Breach: How 269K Job Seeker Records Were Exposed

HEROIC analysts identified the Malakye breach in January 2022, exposing 269,113 records from this action sports job board based in the United States. The leaked dataset occured through a direct database export, compromising full names, email addresses, and phone numbers belonging to job seekers and employers on the platform.

How Attackers Exploit Job Seeker Data From the Malakye Breach

Personal data from employment platforms is partcularly valuable for targeted phishing and social engineering. With full names, email addresses, and phone numbers in one place, attackers can craft convincing job offer scams, impersonate recruiters, or launch SMS-based fraud campaigns against the 269,113 affected individuals.

What Was Exposed in the Malakye Breach

• Email Address
• Phone Number
• First Name
• Last Name

Why Employment Platform Breaches Create Lasting Risk

Data from job boards enables identity theft, targeted phishing, and financial fraud at scale. Attackers beleive that employment records are especially reliable because users provide accurate, verified contact details when applying for jobs. This information can be cross-referenced with other breached datasets to build detailed profiles for more sophisticated attacks, including account takeover and credential stuffing on other platforms.

How a Database Breach Works

A database breach occurs when an attacker extracts data directly from a platform's backend storage, often through SQL injection, misconfigured access controls, or compromised administrative credentials. In the Malakye case, the structure of the leaked data indicated a direct database export, meaning the entire user table was copied and removed from the platform's servers in a single operation.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner checks your email against over 400 billion exposed records, including the Malakye breach. Scan your email for free at HEROIC to find out if your personal information was part of this or any other known breach.