Hacking group says it’s extorting Pornhub after stealing users’ viewing data

A hacker collective known as Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, which includes members from the ShinyHunters group, has announced its intention to extort Pornhub after alleging that it has obtained sensitive information from the platform's premium users. On Friday, Pornhub acknowledged that it was one of several companies impacted by a security breach linked to Mixpanel, a widely utilized web and mobile analytics service. This breach has reportedly compromised several users' analytics events, although specific details remain unclear. Reports from Bleeping Computer indicated that a sample of the stolen data was reviewed, revealing personal information about Pornhub Premium members. This data included registered email addresses, user locations, and details about their viewing habits, such as the videos and channels accessed, along with associated keywords and timestamps. Despite inquiries from TechCrunch, Mixpanel's CEO Jen Taylor did not provide any comments, and a Pornhub spokesperson, who chose to remain unnamed, redirected questions to the company's official statement. According to representatives from the ShinyHunters group, they have only sent extortion communications to Pornhub so far, without disclosing whether other companies were also affected by the Mixpanel incident. Just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Mixpanel admitted to a breach discovered on November 8, affecting its corporate clients but without specifying which companies were impacted. OpenAI confirmed that it was among those affected, along with CoinTracker and SwissBorg. Mixpanel's client base consists of approximately 8,000 companies, each potentially serving millions of users whose data may have been compromised. The extent of the stolen data likely varies based on each customer's Mixpanel configuration, as companies typically use this service to monitor user interactions on their platforms. This can include tracking user device details, such as screen size, network type, and carrier information. Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, primarily composed of English-speaking hackers from Western countries, has a notorious history of significant data breaches, including high-profile hacks targeting Salesforce and Gainsight, impacting hundreds of organizations. Additionally, SoundCloud revealed that unauthorized activity in a service dashboard, likely linked to Mixpanel, affected around 20% of its user base, with compromised data including email addresses and information already publicly available on user profiles. SoundCloud did not respond to requests for comment.