Sensitive data of hundreds of millions of Brazilian citizens appears to have been leaked to the public, meaning cybercriminals may have had access to it.
According to an investigation by Cybernews, there was a publicly accessible Elasticsearch instance, which contained a huge amount of private data belonging to Brazilian citizens.
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Elasticsearch is a widely used tool for searching, analyzing, and visualizing large amounts of data. However, according to Cybernews, the leaked data was not associated with a specific company or organization, so we do not currently know the source of the leak.
The data, located on a cloud server, contains sensitive information such as full names, dates of birth, gender and Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas (CPF) numbers. This 11-digit number identifies taxpayers in Brazil.
More than 223 million files, which means that the entire population of Brazil may have been affected by this leak.
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The data is no longer publicly available, but may have previously been in the hands of criminals and used for identity theft, fraud, and targeted cybercrime .This could result in financial losses, unauthorized access to personal accounts, and other serious consequences for the individuals affected.
Previously, Cybernews reported on a leak of data allegedly belonging to government entities being sold online.
What are the consequences of data breaches for consumers?
Data leaks can have serious consequences for consumers. First, the information that is leaked includes sensitive personal data, such as names, addresses, and more.
This data can be used by criminals to commit identity fraud, which can lead to financial losses for consumers. In addition, consumers may have to spend time and resources dealing with the consequences of the data.
See also: HealthEC LLC: Data breach affects 4.5 million patients
Additionally, data breaches can lead to a loss of trust from consumers in the businesses that manage data . This can have long-term consequences for the success of the business.
Finally, data breaches can lead to insecurity and anxiety. Consumers may feel that their privacy has been violated, which can have psychological consequences.
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Source: cybernews.com
