Fling.com breach record lists Talarico-linked email

A record in data associated with Fling.com’s 2011 breach lists an account created with an email address that James Talarico’s lawyers confirmed belonged to and had previously been used by the Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. The record does not establish who created or controlled the account, and Talarico’s lawyers deny that he created it. The displayed entry gives the username as “mohawk787” and an account creation time of December 26, 2010. Its interests field lists “FETISH,” “GROUPSEX,” “SEXUAL RELATIONS,” “ONLINE FLIRTING” and “OTHER.” The record also marks the email as validated. Cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt’s documentation of the database structure says the field’s default was “N,” though that setting does not identify who registered or verified the address. In a response to questions about the record, Talarico’s lawyers said a hacker used his email address to create the account. They said it was active for 54 seconds and that Talarico never created it. The displayed creation and last-login timestamps are 54 seconds apart; the record shows no later login before the breach. Those timestamps do not establish whether the account was accessed again, or who used...