One of the largest data breaches in history exposes information on 1.5 billion people online.

Researchers have found an unsecured server containing an alarming amount of records, potentially reaching 1.5 billion, primarily from social media and e-commerce platforms in China. Among the affected entities are major brands such as Weibo and DiDi. This situation exposes victims to risks of identity theft and social engineering attacks.

The investigation reveals that the compromised data includes Personally Identifiable Information (PII), covering full names, email addresses, financial information, health records, and phone numbers. The largest volume of records is attributed to QQ Messenger, while a significant second set comes from Weibo, with 504 million records, although it is likely that this data had been leaked before. Additionally, an alarming total of 142 million records belonging to JD.com, a major e-commerce company in China, was found, with no prior mass leaks of this information known.

It is important to note that although some data had already been exposed in previous leaks, much of the information appears to have been compromised for the first time in this incident. This dataset seems to be a mix of previously exposed information and newly leaked data, all gathered on an Elasticsearch server that has since been taken down.

Investigators reported that the server was exposed for several months before it was shut down following multiple disclosure notifications. However, the analysis of the server showed no clear indications of its true ownership, suggesting the possibility of malicious intent behind the collection of such an extensive and varied dataset. This breadth allows attackers to carry out targeted attacks such as account hacking, sophisticated social engineering attacks, and identity theft.

Despite the magnitude of this incident, it is considered potentially only the second data breach of this scale recently recorded, emphasizing the need for greater protection for businesses worldwide.