a post by Laura Hautala for C|net [via ResearchBuzz: Firehose with grateful thanks]
Don’t worry. They want it to be safe.
Justin Paine sits in a pub in Oakland, California, searching the internet for your most sensitive data. It doesn't take him long to find a promising lead.
On his laptop, he opens Shodan, a searchable index of cloud servers and other internet-connected devices. Then he types the keyword "Kibana," which reveals more than 15,000 databases stored online. Paine starts digging through the results, a plate of chicken tenders and fries growing cold next to him.
"This one's from Russia. This one's from China," Paine said. "This one is just wide open."
From there, Paine can sift through each database and check its contents. One database appears to have information about hotel room service. If he keeps looking deeper, he might find credit card or passport numbers. That isn't far-fetched. In the past, he's found databases containing patient information from drug addiction treatment centers, as well as library borrowing records and online gambling transactions.
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