Anyone who uses the website xHamster might want to check the database to see if their name’s on it. Picture: iStock.

According to The Sun, a shadowy group of cybercrooks leaked a database which reportedly contains hundreds of thousands of user names and email addresses from across the world.

If the information is correct, it could potentially expose the identities of men and women who used the site to get their kicks.

This could allow digi-crims to blackmail people by threatening to expose the secret shame of their porn habit.

The tech website Motherboard analysed the list to find that “40 email addresses belonging to the US Army, and 30 related to various US, UK, and other countries’ government bodies”.

However, xHamster denied that users’ private information was under threat.

A database of user names and emails would be a treasure trove to hackers or cyber-crims. Picture: Supplied.Source:istock

The porn website was recently in the news after hosting a film showing women putting on an X-rated show in the grounds of a city centre church.

“We cannot validate that the emails are real and we don’t believe that this is a genuine database,” a spokesman said.

“The passwords of all xHamster users are properly encrypted, so it is almost impossible to hack them. Thus, all the passwords are safe and the users data secured.

“The integrity of our user data is secure. Passwords are encrypted and impossible to hack.”

Motherboard questioned these claims and suggested it had used some of the emails in the database to open new accounts, but were told the emails were already in use.

Earlier this year, the hook-up website AdultFriendFinder was allegedly hacked for the second time in 18 months.

Hackers are always looking for opportunities to strike. Picture: Supplied.Source:ThinkStock

Tony Anscombe, senior security evangelist at the tech firm Avast, had this advice for anyone worried about their dirty little secrets.

He said: “When you’re dating, you’re sending lots of personal contact information back and forth.

“All of that is flowing in free texts. It’s like sending a love letter via postcard. Everyone along the delivery train is probably going to read it.

“You don’t want to reveal too much information to the wrong people.

“Even those who consider themselves very private often leave a trail. Someone who knows what they’re doing, like a cybercriminal, can follow old accounts and find data that users may not want to be public knowledge.”