TaiLieu 2019 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
TaiLieu Vietnamese Education Document Platform Breach (2019): 7.3 Million User Accounts Exposed :: Authenticity Unverified
Vietnamese online education document sharing platform.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
19/100Breach Risk Index
10Data Value
10Market Recency
2257dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: TaiLieu · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 6 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Education Platform · Study materials, document sharing, and academic content services · Education content-sharing platform · Vietnam
Timeline: Breach (2019-11-24) · Indexed (May 03, 2020) · Year (2019)
Exposure: 7.3M records · 9 fields: Date of Birth, Email Address, Full Name, Gender, Geographic Location, Password, Phone Number, Physical Address, Username
Status: Disputed
Executive Summary
In November 2019, the Vietnamese education/document platform TaiLieu (tailieu.vn) allegedly suffered a data breach exposing ~7.3 million records including names, usernames, email addresses, dates of birth, genders, and passwords stored as unsalted MD5 hashes; some catalogues also list phone numbers and home addresses (not in the HIBP field set). The data was shared on a hacking forum and provided to Have I Been Pwned via dehashed.com. TaiLieu never confirmed the incident, so it is treated as alleged/unverified. Unsalted MD5 passwords are readily crackable, enabling credential stuffing.
ObscureIQ assessment: Exposure enables phishing, account takeover, and profiling based on academic or professional interests. Content-sharing history may also reveal school affiliation or exam-related behavior.
Breach Impact
If genuine, the exposure of names, usernames, emails, dates of birth, genders, and unsalted MD5 passwords (plus, per some catalogues, phone numbers and addresses) enables credential-stuffing, identity-verification bypass (name + DOB), and targeted phishing for millions of Vietnamese users. Unsalted MD5 hashes are easily cracked. Authenticity is unconfirmed.
About TaiLieu
TaiLieu (tailieu.vn) is a Vietnamese education / study-document sharing platform where users access and share learning materials. It maintains user account, contact, and profile records.
Why They Hold Your Data
Education content-sharing platforms collect user accounts, emails, upload history, download activity, and academic-interest signals tied to study materials and document access.
Recent Developments
In November 2019, a dataset of ~7.3 million TaiLieu records was shared on a hacking forum and provided to Have I Been Pwned (via dehashed.com). TaiLieu did not respond to inquiries and never officially confirmed the incident, so reporting treats it as alleged/unverified.
Data Points Exposed
9 verified field types
Date of Birth High
Email Address
Full Name High
Gender
Geographic Location
Password Critical
Phone Number
Physical Address High
Username
Field names are shown in full for clarity and search visibility. Canonical machine keys are emitted only in this page’s structured data.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
Threat Activity:High
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords (unsalted MD5, easily cracked)
- Identity verification bypass using name + date of birth
- Targeted phishing using exposed emails
- Account enrichment via profile data
Threat vectors:
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- Password hash cracking (unsalted MD5)
- Identity verification bypass
- Phishing & social engineering
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Change Reused Passwords
Update this account and anywhere you reused the password; use a manager.
Enable MFA Everywhere
Turn on multi-factor authentication on email first, then financial accounts.
Report & Recover
If you spot misuse, start an official recovery plan and report fraud.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the TaiLieu breach?▾
In November 2019, the Vietnamese education/document platform TaiLieu (tailieu.vn) allegedly suffered a data breach exposing ~7.3 million records including names, usernames, email addresses, dates of birth, genders, and passwords stored as unsalted MD5 hashes; some catalogues also list phone numbers…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Date of Birth, Email Address, Full Name, Gender, Geographic Location, Password, Phone Number, Physical Address, Username.
What should I do if I was affected?▾
Change reused passwords, enable MFA, and (if identity or financial data is involved) freeze your credit and monitor your accounts.
Sources & References
Every claim on this page is traceable. This breach draws on:
Breach Index
Breach Index
Cross-source
9ghz
Cross-source
BreachForums_Official_Index
Cross-source
Dehashed
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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