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WHMCS data breach

From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the May 2012 breach of WHMCS. For every breach, see Breaches.

The WHMCS data breach exposed 134,047 accounts from whmcs.com in May 2012. The data taken includes passwords, partial credit card data, payment histories and names and 6 more kinds of data.[1]

Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 28 Jun 2016, 4 years later. It is the 563rd largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.

What was exposed

WHMCS’s breach included 10 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:

DataWhat it’s used for
PasswordsCriminals try leaked passwords on email, banking and shopping sites, because people reuse them.
Partial credit card dataNot enough to spend, but enough to make a fake call from your bank convincing.
Payment historiesShows what you buy, which makes fake order and refund scams convincing.
NamesMakes scam messages personal enough to believe.
Physical addressesUsed to prove who you are, and for scam letters and parcels.
Email addressesExpect scam emails that name the company to look genuine.
Email messagesPrivate, and now in someone else’s hands.
EmployersPersonal details that make scam messages more convincing.
IP addressesRoughly where you were when you used the service.
Website activityPersonal details that make scam messages more convincing.

What to do

  1. Check whether you’re in it.Search your email address on Have I Been Pwned. It tells you which breaches it appears in, WHMCS among them, without showing the data.
  2. Change your WHMCS password.If the account still exists, sign in at WHMCS (whmcs.com) and change it.
  3. Change it anywhere you used the same one.Start with your email, then banking and shopping. Leaked passwords are tried on other sites automatically, within days.
  4. Use a password manager and two-step sign-in.A different password for every site means one breach can’t open the rest. Two-step sign-in stops a leaked password working on its own.
  5. Distrust messages that mention WHMCS.Scammers use breach data to sound genuine. Don’t click links in emails or texts about the breach; go to the site yourself.
  6. Watch your statements.Report anything you don’t recognise to your bank, and ask for a new card if full card numbers leaked.

Timeline

  • : the breach, as best it can be dated.
  • : Have I Been Pwned verifies the data and adds it to its search, 4 years later.

Breaches often stay hidden for a long time. Until it came out, people in it had no reason to change anything.

Similar breaches

Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:

See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.

References

  1. ^ Troy Hunt. “WHMCS”, Have I Been Pwned, added 28 Jun 2016. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.