- Researchers have found a new password protected database
- The database contained hundreds of millions of records
- Among the records were connection information for Facebook, Apple and Plus
Connection identification information for Microsoft, Facebook, Snapchat and many other services, has recently been found in a public database and not protected by passwords, available for all those who knew where to look for.
The database was discovered by Jeremiah Fowler, a safety researcher known for hunting large open databases.
According to Fowler, the database contained more than 184 million unique connections and passwords: emails, user names, passwords and URL connection links, for a wide range of applications and service accounts. This includes email suppliers, Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Roblox products and many others.
Fowler also said that he had seen diplomas for bank and financial accounts, health platforms and government gates from “many countries”. He managed to confirm the authenticity of at least some of the database data, reaching out to the email addresses found inside.
The attribution was however delicate. Fowler says that the IP address indicated that the database was connected to two domain names – one per parking and unavailable, and the other not registered and available for purchase.
Whois registration has been defined on private, which makes it impossible to identify the real owner of the database.
Assignment disorders
But the researcher managed to contact the accommodation provider and, shortly after – public access was restricted. However, the supplier did not disclose information on the owner.
In that spirit, Fowler says that it is difficult to determine whether the database has been generated by a malicious actor, or legitimate. However, he leans towards the first, claiming to have seen “multiple signs” that the data was collected with infostants.
Infosteralists are generally distributed via phishing, malicious websites or contaminated updates. They can collect sensitive information from the compromise device, including passwords stored in browsers, important PDF files, cryptocurrency wallet information, etc.
Once the crooks have access to email accounts, they can use them to launch convincing phishing attacks or steal even more data.
In fact, Fowler maintains that many people “treat their messaging accounts as free storage” and maintain the years of sensitive documents inside.
Via Website planet
