PokeCommunity Data Breach
The 2013 PokeCommunity data breach occurred in January 2013 when the forum database of PokeCommunity (pokecommunity.com), the premier global online community for Pokémon enthusiasts and ROM developers, was breached and dumped online.
Exposed Data Types
8- Email addresses
- Usernames
- Passwords
- IP addresses
- Dates of birth
- Website URLs
- Instant messaging identities
- Social media profiles
About This Breach
What information was affected in the PokeCommunity incident?
Officially acknowledged by PokeCommunity community administration, the compromised records across 430,029 unique user accounts encompass:
- Authentication Credentials: Valid canonical email addresses, forum usernames, salted MD5 password hashes, and cracked plaintext credentials.
- Demographic & Network Telemetry: Dates of birth and originating registration/login IP addresses.
- Messaging & Social Handles: ICQ, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN, and Skype identifiers, alongside personal homepage URLs.
- Gaming Network Identifiers: Nintendo Network ID, Nintendo 3DS Friend Code, Steam account names, PlayStation Network (PSN) IDs, Wii handles, and Xbox Live gamertags.
How many accounts were affected?
Canonical RFC extraction and deduplication across 641,828 database records confirmed 430,029 unique valid email addresses.
Technical analysis and security risks
Exfiltrated through vulnerabilities in legacy forum software, the database pairs plaintext credentials with gaming platform IDs, exposing gamers to credential stuffing and targeted social engineering attacks across gaming networks.
Recommended actions for affected users
Former members of PokeCommunity should:
- Immediately change passwords across any gaming and email services where identical credentials were ever used.
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) across Steam, Nintendo, Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft Xbox accounts.
Verification and editorial method
LeakData compares the incident name, date, affected-record count, and exposed data types with accessible sources. Unverified fields are not presented as facts, and records are updated when new evidence becomes available.
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