Breached in 2016, Still Circulating: The Vegan Forum Account Leak

HEROIC analysts recieved reports of the Vegan Forum database appearing in active circulation on dark web forums, nearly a decade after the breach originally occured in November 2016. The incident exposed 438 registered user accounts from the health and nutrition community platform. What makes this case notable is that the data has not faded from use. It continues to be traded and tested by threat actors long after most members have forgotten they ever registered on the site.

Why Old Nutrition Forum Passwords Are Still Being Used Against You

Credentials from a vegan community forum may not seem like a prime target, but attackers do not care about the topic. They care about the email and password combination. Those same credentials are accessable to automated tools that test them across hundreds of platforms simultaneously. If you registered on Vegan Forum in 2016 and reused that password, your email account, streaming subscriptions, and online shopping accounts could all be at risk right now.

What Was Exposed in the Vegan Forum Breach

• Email addresses
• Usernames
• Passwords (vBulletin hashed format)
• User account records (438 total)

A 2016 Breach Still Active in 2025: Why Timing Matters

The Vegan Forum breach is a clear example of how stolen data ages but never disappears. The credentials from this breach have been repackaged and re-released multiple times, each time reaching a new set of attackers. Credential stuffing, account takeover, identity theft, and financial fraud are all made easier when old leaked data is combined with fresh breach information. Every year that passes without a password change increases the window of opportunity for attackers to exploit this data.

How Database Breaches Work

A database breach happens when an attacker gains unauthorized access to the server where a website stores its user records. Forum platforms using vBulletin software were frequently targeted during this period because of well-known vulnerabilities in older versions of the software. Once attackers extract the database, user records including email addresses, usernames, and hashed passwords are packaged and shared across dark web trading channels, where they remain available indefinitely.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner searches more than 400 billion records, including the Vegan Forum breach. Enter your email address to find out in seconds whether your data is still circulating and take steps to protect your accounts today.