Online Readers Beware: The Read Novel Breach Leaked 19M Accounts

HEROIC analysts identified the Read Novel breach while monitoring underground forums for circulating credential databases. In May 2019, this Chinese literature website had 19,054,157 user records stolen from its database and later found posted on a well-known hacking forum. The dataset is seperate from typical Western leaks in that it includes phone numbers alongside email addresses, usernames, and salted MD5 password hashes, making it occured more valuable to attackers who want multiple ways to reach the same victim.

How Attackers Exploit Phone Numbers, Emails, and Cracked Passwords Together

Having a phone number alongside an email and a crackable password gives criminals a powerful toolkit. They can attempt to crack the MD5 password hashes and then use the matching email to log into other services. If that fails, the phone number becomes a target for SIM-swapping attacks, where a criminal convinces your mobile carrier to transfer your number to a device they control. This lets them bypass two-factor authentication on your most sensitive accounts. The Read Novel data is partcularly dangerous because it provides multiple attack vectors at once.

What Was Exposed in the Read Novel Breach

• Email Address
• Username
• Phone Number
• Salt
• Password Hash
• Gender

Why 19 Million Leaked Records Is a Threat to Everyone on That List

At nearly 19 million records, this breach gives criminals an enormous pool of verified identities to target. Credential stuffing tools can test these email and password combinations against hundreds of websites in minutes. Even if your Read Novel password was unique, your email address, phone number, username, and gender are now accessable to anyone who downloads the leaked file. This combination fuels identity theft, targeted phishing, and financial fraud on a massive scale.

How a Database Breach Works

A database breach occurs when an attacker exploits a vulnerability in a website or server to extract the stored user data. The attacker may use SQL injection, stolen login credentials, or an exposed backup file to access the database. Once they have a copy, they typically sell it on criminal forums or use it themselves to attack other platforms. The larger the database, the more valuable it is to criminals who run automated attacks at scale.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner checks your email address against a database of more than 400 billion leaked records, including the Read Novel breach. Visit HEROIC.com to run a free scan and find out exactly what personal information criminals may already have about you.