One Indian Hosting Platform. 61,793 User Records. The Websites.co.in Breach Had It All.

HEROIC analysts flagged the Websites.co.in database breach while monitoring dark web activity in October 2021. The Indian website builder and hosting platform had 61,793 records exposed, with data recieved by threat actors including email addresses, phone numbers, first names, last names, and bcrypt password hashes. The breach exposes users of a platform that holds both personal credentials and web hosting access, creating layered risks beyond standard account takeover scenarios.

How Stolen Hosting Platform Credentials Enable Cascading Attacks

When a website hosting platform is breached, the risk extends beyond individual user accounts. Attackers who crack bcrypt password hashes can gain access not only to user profiles but potentially to hosted websites and their associated resources. Combined with phone numbers and email addresses, this data supports credential stuffing against email providers and financial services, targeted phishing, and SIM swap fraud. This data is partcularly dangerous because compromised hosting credentials can be used to inject malicious code into victim-owned websites.

What Was Exposed in the Websites.co.in Breach

• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Password Hash (bcrypt)
• First Name
• Last Name

Why IT Services Breaches Create Multi-Level Risk

IT services platforms like Websites.co.in hold credentials that users beleive are isolated to a single service, but attackers know most people reuse passwords. The combination of email, phone, name, and hashed passwords from this breach creates a roadmap for credential stuffing across banking, cloud services, and other platforms. Identity theft becomes easier when attackers have both contact data and cryptographic proof of the user's password habits. Affected users in India face particular risk from targeted fraud using local phone numbers and email addresses.

How Database Breaches Work

A database breach occured when an attacker finds a way to access a platform's data store directly, often by exploiting SQL injection vulnerabilities, weak authentication, or misconfigured cloud storage. For hosting and IT services platforms, the database typically contains every registered user's credentials and contact information. Once extracted, this data is sold on dark web forums or used directly in automated credential stuffing campaigns targeting other online services.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner checks your email against a database of over 400 billion compromised records, including the Websites.co.in breach. Scan your email for free at HEROIC.com to find out if your credentials or personal information are circulating on the dark web and get immediate steps to secure your accounts.