- Cybernews discovered exposed database containing tens of millions of French citizen records
- Combined data from at least five breaches: voter, healthcare, financial, customer relationship management and vehicle information.
- Probably built by a criminal data broker; presents major risks of phishing, fraud and identity theft
Someone – most likely a cybercriminal – combined data stolen in at least five breaches into a single, large database, then exposed it on a cloud server, experts warned.
The database was recently discovered by security researchers at Cybernewswho informed the server owners and helped delete the archive.
Cybernews said it found a database of “millions” of French citizens exposed on the open web for an unknown period of time. After analyzing the contents of the database, the researcher determined that the records were most likely an amalgamation of at least five violations.
Serious risks to privacy
In total, there were “tens of millions” of recordings, Cybernews concluded, breaking down the discovered information this way:
- More than 23 million entries appearing to be electoral or demographic register data, containing full names, addresses and dates of birth
- Around 9.2 million health data, in the format of official RPPS/ADELI registers
- Over 6 million contact records from a CRM
- Around 6 million financial profiles with IBAN and BIC, linked to French banks
- Vehicle registration and insurance information
“Unlike traditional leaks caused by corporate misconfigurations, this exposure appears to be the work of a data broker or criminal collector. These actors often merge data sets stolen from multiple breaches into unified databases to increase resale value and enable cross-linking of identities,” the team explained.
“The mix of datasets paints a troubling picture: different sectors, one repository – and no protection. The incident poses a serious risk to the privacy of millions of French citizens.”
Cybernews could not identify the real owner of the database, but they traced it to a server in France and helped lock it down.
This type of databases are extremely valuable to cybercriminals because they enable different attack techniques, including phishing, identity theft, wire fraud, and more.
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