Tianya 2011 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
Tianya Chinese Internet Forum Breach (2011): 29 Million User Accounts Including Passwords Exposed
Major Chinese internet discussion forum (now defunct).
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
14/100Breach Risk Index
6Data Value
10Market Recency
3660dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Tianya · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 7 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Online Community · General discussion, blogging, and social community content · Large-scale web forum · China
Timeline: Breach (2011-12-26) · Indexed (Jun 30, 2016) · Year (2011)
Exposure: 29.0M records · 4 fields: Email Address, Full Name, Password, Username
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
In December 2011, China’s largest forum Tianya was hacked and 29,020,808 accounts were exposed as part of a wave of Chinese site breaches that month. The published data came from a backup predating 2009, when Tianya stored credentials in plaintext, and included email addresses, names, usernames, and plaintext passwords.
ObscureIQ assessment: Exposure enables account takeover, harassment, and identity linkage through years of public and private forum activity. Long-lived community archives can also surface dormant identities and relationships.
Breach Impact
Plaintext passwords require no cracking, so despite their age the credentials drive credential-stuffing risk wherever users reused them, especially across Chinese-language services.
About Tianya
Tianya Club was one of China’s largest online forums and social communities, hosting discussion across a wide range of topics for a massive user base.
Why They Hold Your Data
Large web forums collect user accounts, emails, usernames, messages, posts, and long-term discussion history tied to blogging, social interaction, and community participation.
Recent Developments
Tianya moved to encrypted password storage in 2010; the leaked data came from an older backup and the platform later declined in prominence.
Data Points Exposed
4 verified field types
Email Address
Full Name High
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
- Name-based social engineering
- 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 Tianya breach?▾
In December 2011, China’s largest forum Tianya was hacked and 29,020,808 accounts were exposed as part of a wave of Chinese site breaches that month. The published data came from a backup predating 2009, when Tianya stored credentials in plaintext, and included email addresses, names, usernames,…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Email Address, Full Name, 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
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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