Big leak in US: Personal data of about 1/3 of the country's population has been publicly available

Information security researchers discovered an online database containing the personal information of 106,316,633 US citizens, nearly a third of the country's population. The database includes background check information for MC2 Data, including people's names, addresses, phone numbers, copies of various legal and employment documents, and much more.Researchers believe that the MC2 Data database became publicly available as a result of human error rather than a targeted hacking attack. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that the database contains information not only about those who have been verified by the company's employees, but also about more than 2 million customers who have subscribed to MC2 Data services.This is the second major data leak in recent months from a company that verifies people's biographical data. In August, National Public Data confirmed that the data breach had occurred, prompting several class action lawsuits against the service.“Biometric verification services have always been problematic because cybercriminals can pay for their services in exchange for collecting data on potential victims. Such a leak is a goldmine for cybercriminals, as it opens up a number of opportunities and reduces risk for them, allowing them to use this detailed data more effectively," Cybernews researcher Aras Nazarovas commented on the issue.