Pornhub, a Canadian-owned adult content platform that reports more than 100 million daily visits worldwide, has confirmed a data exposure affecting a subset of its Premium users. The disclosure, issued to affected individuals in December, clarified that the incident did not stem from a breach of Pornhub’s own systems. Instead, the exposure was linked to a third-party analytics provider that the company had stopped working with in 2021. As a result, the data involved is not recent, but consists of historical analytics information collected during the period when the vendor relationship was active.
Events Leading to the Disclosure
According to Pornhub, the company was informed of the incident by the third-party analytics provider. The exposure occurred within the vendor’s environment, where an unauthorized party extracted analytics event data associated with Pornhub Premium user activity. Pornhub emphasized that its infrastructure and Premium systems were not directly compromised and that no intrusion into its internal systems took place.
The incident first came to public attention through reporting by BleepingComputer, after hackers shared a limited sample of the data with journalists. Reuters later reported direct communication with a member of the hacker group involved, confirming extortion demands tied to the data. Pornhub subsequently issued a public statement and notified affected users, stressing that it had discontinued use of the analytics provider several years prior to the disclosure.
Scope of Impact and Conflicting Claims
Pornhub has stated that the exposure affected only “select” Premium users and involved a limited set of analytics events. The company maintains that the total number of affected users is limited. These statements contrast with claims made by the hackers, who allege possession of more than 200 million data records totaling approximately 94GB.
While hackers assert that they hold complete datasets tied to Premium user activity, Pornhub has not confirmed those figures and has consistently characterized the scope as constrained. The discrepancy between the two accounts remains unresolved based on publicly available information.
Nature of the Exposed Data
The exposed information consists of behavioral and metadata collected through analytics tracking. This includes user email addresses, general location data, search history, viewing history, video URLs, video titles, associated keywords, timestamps indicating when videos were viewed, and indicators showing whether content was watched or downloaded. The data reflects user activity from the time period during which Pornhub was using the third-party analytics provider.
Pornhub has explicitly stated that highly sensitive information was not exposed. This includes passwords, login credentials, payment and financial information, credit card data, and government-issued identification. The company has emphasized that these categories of data remained secure throughout the incident.
Hacker Activity and Extortion Attempt
The data exposure has been attributed to a hacker group identified as ShinyHunters. Reporting describes the group as western-based, with members believed to be native English speakers in their late teens to early twenties. ShinyHunters reportedly demanded payment in bitcoin, threatening to publish the data on the darknet if the ransom was not paid and to delete the data if payment was made. Hackers provided a small sample of the data to reporters as proof of possession, which included email addresses, location data, viewing activity, and video-related metadata. These samples were consistent with analytics event data rather than account credentials or payment records.
Company Response and Ongoing Review
Pornhub has stated that it is conducting an internal investigation into the incident. The company has reiterated that user passwords and payment details remain secure and that the exposure was limited in scope. Pornhub has also highlighted that it ended its relationship with the analytics provider years before the disclosure and that the exposed data was historical rather than current.
Broader Implications
This incident shows how sensitive behavioral data can be exposed even without a direct breach, and how damaging this can be for users. Adult content analytics can reveal intimate habits and, when linked to emails or locations, could enable blackmail, harassment, or reputational harm. Like breaches such as Ashley Madison, the impact is less about finances and more about personal privacy, making even historical data a serious risk. It highlights the dangers of long-term third-party data retention and the need for strict vendor oversight.
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