Taringa 2017 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
Taringa Latin American Social Network Breach (2017): 28 Million User Accounts Including Weak MD5 Passwords Exposed
Latin American social news and discussion platform (comparable to Reddit).
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
14/100Breach Risk Index
6Data Value
10Market Recency
3002dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Taringa · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 8 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Platform · Social networking and user-generated community content · Social network and discussion platform · Argentina
Timeline: Breach (2017-08-01) · Indexed (Apr 19, 2018) · Year (2017)
Exposure: 28.0M records · 3 fields: Email Address, Password, Username
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
In August 2017, Taringa suffered a data breach exposing 28,722,877 accounts, disclosed the following month. Exposed data included usernames, email addresses, and passwords stored as weak MD5 hashes. Researchers reported that roughly 94% of the hashes were cracked within days.
ObscureIQ assessment: Exposure enables harassment, phishing, account takeover, and identity linkage. Archive-like community history can also resurface dormant pseudonymous identities.
Breach Impact
With nearly all MD5 hashes cracked, the breach effectively exposed plaintext-equivalent credentials for tens of millions of users, driving broad credential-stuffing risk across Spanish-language and global services.
About Taringa
Taringa, often called "the Latin American Reddit," was a large social-networking and content-sharing community especially popular in Argentina and across Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Why They Hold Your Data
Social networks and discussion platforms collect user accounts, profile data, posts, messages, and long-term community activity tied to user-generated content and social participation.
Recent Developments
After the breach, Taringa reset all user passwords and upgraded its password hashing from MD5 to SHA-256.
Data Points Exposed
3 verified field types
Email Address
Password Critical
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:Moderate
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
Threat vectors:
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- Cross-platform tracking & credential stuffing
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 Taringa breach?▾
In August 2017, Taringa suffered a data breach exposing 28,722,877 accounts, disclosed the following month. Exposed data included usernames, email addresses, and passwords stored as weak MD5 hashes. Researchers reported that roughly 94% of the hashes were cracked within days.
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Email Address, Password, 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
Cross-source
Keeper
Cross-source
leakfind
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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