The marketing and data aggregation firm Exactis compiles business and consumer data.

The leak was found by security researcher Vinny Troia, who informed both Exactis and the FBI of the data leak. This leak is part of a trend of databases full of consumer information being made available on the internet for anyone who knows how to look it.

Highlights:

  • The haul comprised almost 2 terabytes of data.
  • The data appears to include personal information on hundreds of millions of American adults, as well as millions of businesses.
  • The data did not include social security numbers or credit card numbers.
  • While it would be hard to use this information for identity theft, the depth of personal info nonetheless could help scammers with other forms of social engineering.
  • And the depth is vast, containing more than 400 variables on a wide range of specific characteristics: whether the person smokes, their religion, whether they have dogs or cats, and interests as varied as scuba diving and plus-size apparel.

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John