Cybersecurity researchers recently identified a massive online database that was left publicly accessible without any security protections, exposing a vast collection of professional and personal information. The database contained more than 16 terabytes of data, representing over 4.3 billion individual records that could be accessed without authorization.
Researchers associated with Cybernews reported that the exposed dataset is among the largest lead-generation style databases ever discovered online. The information appears to be compiled from publicly available professional profiles, including data commonly found on LinkedIn, such as profile handles, URLs, and employment-related details.
The exposed records included extensive personal and professional information. This ranged from full names, job titles, employer names, and work histories to education records, degrees, certifications, skills, languages, and location data. In some cases, the datasets also contained phone numbers, email addresses, social media links, and profile images. Additional information related to corporate relationships and contract-linked data was also present, suggesting the dataset was built for commercial or business intelligence purposes.
Investigators believe the data was collected gradually over several years and across different geographic regions. The database was stored in a MongoDB instance, a system commonly used by organizations to manage large volumes of information efficiently. While MongoDB itself is widely used, leaving such databases unsecur
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