Security researchers are sounding the alarm over a surprising discovery - the exposure of billions of records online, deemed the "mother of all breaches."
However, this massive dataset isn't the aftermath of a single breach; rather, it appears to be a compilation resulting from various breaches. These compilations often emerge from the practices of data enrichment companies.
Understanding Data Enrichment
Known as the "mother of all breaches," a huge leak is discovered to have compromised 12 TB of data from 26 billion records, according to the researchers.
According to MalwareBytes, data enrichment involves merging first-party data from internal sources with diverse data from both internal systems and external third-party sources. Organizations find enriched data to be a valuable asset, enhancing its utility and insightfulness.
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Unique Threat: Trello Accounts on Sale
In a parallel development related to leaked personal data, a cybercriminal known as "emo" asserts possession of 15 million unique records of Trello accounts. Trello, a widely used project management tool, raised concerns among many organizations.
Atlassian Denies Breach
Atlassian, the company behind Trello, vehemently denies any breach. It appears that an individual, using the moniker "emo," tested a large collection of email addresses against Trello. Up to this day, most people still can't classify a particular exposure as a breach.
Defining Breach vs. Leak
The distinction between a breach and a leak is very important to avoid any confusion in several reports you read online. Some argue that exposing billions of records qualifies as a breach, as it seems unlikely that such a massive instance was left open intentionally.
On the contrary, Atlassian insists it wasn't breached, as the cybercriminals exploited an existing feature, albeit on a larger scale than intended.
For those whose data is involved, the semantics matter less. Whether the data was leaked, scraped, or gathered by data enrichment companies, the result is the same - their information is exposed, inviting cybercriminal exploitation.
Check Your Digital Footprint
Individuals concerned about their online exposure can leverage our free Digital Footprint scan. By entering their email address, particularly the one in frequent use, they receive a comprehensive report. It's crucial to remember that finding your email address in a breach is not a personal embarrassment, but awareness is vital.
Guard Against Scammers
Scammers adeptly leverage information from breaches in social engineering attacks. Even the acknowledgment of data being leaked becomes fodder for phishing attacks.
With over 2,000 companies and government entities reporting data breaches impacting 400 million accounts last year, individuals are urged to set up Identity Monitoring for timely alerts on exposure in new breaches.
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