A research team from Digital Shadows has discovered that over 2.3 billion files are exposed online. The files include payroll information, credit card details, medical data and more. The sensitive information is stored on public or poorly configured online storage or cloud services. This, of course, puts people and organizations at risk , as their data can be stolen or used for any other malicious activity.
Last year, the research team did the same analysis again and found 1.5 billion files exposed. This means that in one year there was a 50% increase in files at risk due to improper storage.
The report Too Much Information: The Sequel presents some of the most disturbing cases of sensitive data leaks.
One such case is the exposure of 4.7 million medical records found exposed online. In many cases, personal information such as names, dates of birth, insurance details and tests were exposed, which could be stolen by a hacker (identity theft).
A UK-based IT company inadvertently exposed approximately 212,000 customer records, which included usernames and passwords.
Another case involves an open server, containing very personal information, such as photos, passports, bank details, which could be used by a hacker for many purposes. With this information, the hacker could take out a loan in the victim's name and much more.
Many of the exposed files have been exploited by hackers. Over 17 million files have been used to carry out ransomware attacks. Hackers would steal files and demand ransom in order to restore them.
For example, during the analysis, SamSam ransomware had been used to carry out attacks on vulnerable servers, including those of a University of California.
The United States leads the way in data breaches, with 326 million exposed records. France and Japan follow with 151 million and 77 million records respectively.
However, researchers have noted that some progress is beginning to be made.
For example, last year, there was a leak of about 6 million files from S3 buckets. After that incident, however, Amazon introduced a new feature that has greatly reduced the exposure of data.
Researchers found that the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has played a role in reducing datain at least two countries – Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The research team hopes that its report will motivate both individuals and organizations to be more careful with the storage and management of their data.
