57,000 Kaspersky Fan Club Forum User Data Leaked in Hosting Breach

[David H. Lipman]

57,000 Kaspersky Fan Club Forum User Data Leaked in Hosting Breach

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Hacker group RGB claims responsibility for breaching Kaspersky’s fan club and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation, leaking over 100,000 criminal records.

The Russian language fan club forum for the cybersecurity giant Kaspersky has experienced a data breach, during which a hacker group known as RGB leaked the personal data of 56,798 users online.

The fan club forum, forum.kasperskyclub.ru, boasts over 62,364 posts, making it a highly active platform where users can discuss Kaspersky Labs and its products, share tutorials, and seek troubleshooting assistance.

However, despite its unofficial status, the data breach of the fan club does not exclude the presence of Kaspersky employee data. Surprisingly, nearly 200 users included in the leak have email addresses hosted on the @kaspersky.com domain.

According to the information obtained by Hackread.com, the data breach occurred on March 24, 2024, but the data was not leaked until April 4, 2024. The leaked database surfaced on RGB’s official website and later on Breach Forums and Telegram. Upon analysis, it was found to contain the personal details of forum users, including the following data:

• Full names
• IP Addresses
• Email addresses
• Password Hashes

Screenshot from the leaked data (Credit: Hackread.com)

Data Breach Confirmed

The forum administrators have officially confirmed the occurrence of the data breach. In a statement posted on both the forum and its official Telegram channel, one of the administrators, identified by the online handle “MiStr,” acknowledged the compromise of the forum’s security and announced the initiation of a mass password reset.

However, the administrator asserted that the data breach stemmed from a hack targeting the forum’s hosting services provider. Furthermore, Kaspersky Labs investigated the attack and confirmed that none of its servers, systems, or domains were affected by the breach. They emphasized that the incident was isolated to the fan club forum.

Forum administrator announcing the breach (Screenshot: Hackread.com)

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation HACKED?

The RGB group, self-identifying as a hacktivist collective, has asserted responsibility for breaching the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation (epp.genproc.gov.ru). To substantiate their claim, the group leaked an Excel file containing precisely 100,000 lines of information about criminal cases from 2013.

Given that the file is in Russian, conducting a thorough analysis is currently unfeasible. However, sources familiar with the matter informed Hackread.com that the RGB group likely has ties to another hacking entity known as “NLB.” According to these sources, NLB previously sold a database titled “Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation,” encompassing data from January 2013 to December 2022.

In August 2023, NLB also boasted about successfully breaching several prominent Russian platforms, including SberLogistics, GeekBrains, and DIKIDI.

Screenshot from the alleged crime information stolen from The Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation – Screenshot from the RBG Group’s website (Screenshot: Hackread.com)

Nonetheless, considering that the data is now publicly accessible, immediate action is imperative for users of the Kaspersky Fan Club forum. It is strongly advised to change your forum password without delay.

Additionally, it is crucial to update the password for your associated email address. Remain vigilant and scrutinize any emails requesting personal information or directing you to log in to unfamiliar platforms, as these could be phishing attempts.