TZUTC: -0500   
   MSGID: 1825.consprcy@1:2320/105 2da168d7   
   PID: Synchronet 3.21a-Linux master/123f2d28a Jul 12 2025 GCC 12.2.0   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.28-Linux master/123f2d28a Jul 12 2025 GCC 12.2.0   
   BBSID: CAPCITY2   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   FORMAT: flowed   
   16TB of corporate intelligence data exposed in one of the largest   
   lead-generation dataset leaks   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:25:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   We've just witnessed the mother of all leaks as researchers found an   
   unprotected behemoth database.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
    - Researchers found an unprotected 16TB MongoDB database exposing nearly two   
   billion PII-filled records   
    - Data likely scraped from LinkedIn and Apollo.io, tied to a possible   
   leadgen company   
    - Database was secured after disclosure, but exposure duration and malicious   
   access remain unknown   
      
   More than 16 terabytes of professional and corporate intelligence data,   
   including personally identifiable information (PII), was sitting in an   
   unprotected database, available to anyone who knew where to look.    
      
   This is according to cybersecurity researchers at Cybernews who found the   
   database and described it as one of the largest lead-generation datasets to   
   have ever leaked.    
      
   Despite the risks and the disruptive potential, unprotected databases remain   
   one of the most common causes of data leaks. In this instance, the    
   researchers found a MongoDB database with almost 4.3 billion documents.    
      
   Personally identifiable information   
      
   The documents were split into nine collections, labeled intent, profiles,   
   people, sitemap, and companies - among others. This structure led the   
   researchers to believe that the database was likely scraped, possibly from   
   LinkedIn and Apollo.io (an AI sales platform).    
      
   Of the nine collections, at least three contained personally identifiable   
   information. These collections, holding almost two billion files, exposed   
   peoples names, emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn URLs and profile handles,   
   position titles, employers, employment history, education, degrees and   
   certifications, location data, languages, skills, functions, social media   
   accounts, image URLs, email confidence scoring, and Apollo IDs.    
      
   One of the collections also had peoples photographs. All of the PII exposed   
   put users at serious risk of identity theft or fraud.    
      
   Cybernews says it could not attribute the database to a specific entity   
   without reasonable doubt, but said that it did find clues pointing to a lead   
   generation company.    
      
   The company helps businesses find and connect with potential customers,   
   providing access to a large-scale B2B database of leads that strongly   
   correlates with the type of information included in the exposed database, the   
   report states. The researchers reached out to that company, and while they    
   did not get confirmation of ownership, the database was locked down two days   
   later.    
      
   It is also unknown for how long the instance remained open, or if a malicious   
   actor accessed it before, but its certainly possible.    
      
    Via Cybernews    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/16tb-of-corporate-intelligence-data-exp   
   osed-in-one-of-the-largest-lead-generation-dataset-leaks   
      
   $$   
   --- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux   
    * Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)   
   SEEN-BY: 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/14 305 153/7715 154/110 218/700   
   SEEN-BY: 226/30 227/114 229/110 134 206 300 307 317 400 426 428 470   
   SEEN-BY: 229/664 700 705 266/512 291/111 320/219 322/757 342/200 396/45   
   SEEN-BY: 460/58 633/280 712/848 902/26 2320/0 105 304 3634/12 5075/35   
   PATH: 2320/105 229/426