Researchers Discover Over 1.5 Billion Files Exposed Through Misconfigured Data Services

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Researchers Discover Over 1.5 Billion Files Exposed Through Misconfigured Data Services

By CircleID Reporter
April 05, 2018, 11:57 pm PDT Views: 14,017 Add Comment

Many administrators misconfigure cloud storage, such Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets, resulting in the contents being publicly-accessible. A security report from Digital Shadows reveals that the combined exposed files surpass 1.5 billion, that is over twelve petabytes of data exposed (12,000 terabytes). This is over four thousand times larger than the “Panama Papers” leak (2.6 terabytes). Michael Marriott reporting today in Digital Shadows writes: “It’s not just the volume but the sensitivity of the data that is a major cause for concern. There were a number of instances of high severity exposure of personal information, intellectual property, and security assessments. There is an incredible amount of personal data exposed, including payroll, tax return and healthcare information. ... Furthermore, with GDPR fast-approaching, there are clear regulatory concerns for organizations surrounding the protection of personal data, particularly if employees and contractors are copying and archiving work files using cloud storage and NAS solutions.”

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By CircleID Reporter — CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.
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