A massive database of names of terrorists (World-Check) and “high-risk individuals” containing more than 2.2 million records has reportedly been leaked online.
Researcher Chris Vickery claimed on Reddit that he had managed to obtain a copy of the confidential database (2014 version) used by World-Check. The database is used by banks, governments and intelligence agencies around the world and contains the names of terrorists and other criminals worldwide.
The leaked database contains more than 2.2 million records of people suspected of terrorism, organized crime, money laundering, bribery, corruption links, and “other illegal activities.”
According to Thomson Reuters, which runs World-Check, the service is used by 4,500 institutions, including 49 of the world's 50 largest banks, more than 300 governments and intelligence agencies, as well as many law firms.
Although access to the World-Check database is supposedly restricted by European privacy laws, Reuters reports that an anonymous person leaked an old version of the database online.
Chris Vickery doesn't reveal exactly how he found the base, but he says:
“The leak is not the result of hacking. I would say it is more of a leak than anything else, and not directly from Thomson Reuters. You will learn exact details about that at a later time.”
Meanwhile, he told the BBC that no username or password is required to read the database, and he clarifies that “this unprotected database was not hosted directly by Thomson Reuters itself.”
It should be mentioned that this database, in addition to listing the categories of each registrant, contains dates and places of birth of individuals in an effort to help banks and government agencies be sure that they are looking for the right people.
The World-Check database has been repeatedly accused by organizations of falsely labeling individuals and organizations as terrorists.
