logo-loader

Experian continues investigation in Brazil's biggest data leakage

Published: 08:00 08 Feb 2021 GMT

Experian -

Experian PLC (LON:EXPN) said some of the information in the biggest ever leak of personal data in Brazil may have been sourced from is Serasa arm in the country.

Late last month, it was reported in local media that a huge set of personal data from over 220mln Brazilians had been discovered for sale on a Dark Web forum.

The massive data sets were initially flagged by cybersecurity company PSafe and subsequently reported by Brazilian tech portal Tecnoblog, which noted that one of the leakages, which included individuals’ names, taxpayer registry identification numbers, date of birth and gender, was available on the open web and had even been indexed by Google.

The data leakage of more than 223mln names is greater than the Brazilian population of around 210mln because the database also includes the names of many deceased individuals.

Experian said in a statement that it is continuing its “detailed forensic investigation”, but pointed out that the leaked data includes photographs, social security numbers, vehicle registrations and social media login details, “which Serasa does not collect or hold”.

While one of the two leaked data sets is called “Serasa Experian” and includes data from Mosaic, a Serasa Experian service that classifies consumers into 11 groups and 40 segments to allow targeted advertisements for companies, the FTSE 100 company said “there is no evidence that positive or negative credit data has been illegally obtained from Serasa” and that it can find “no evidence that our technology systems have been compromised”.

It was also noted on local media that “two other databases have information on affinity and propensity models, something that is also offered by Serasa, the chance that a person has to buy a certain product or service…[and] there is also a list of credit scores, a product for which Serasa is best known”.

The Brazilian legal association has filed a request with the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) to investigate, but the agency has not done so by the end of last week.

Caledonia Mining tackles 2023 challenges with optimism for 2024 as it...

Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:CMCL, NYSE-A:CMCL) chief executive Mark Learmonth tells Proactive's Stephen Gunnion the company faced a challenging 2023, primarily due to poor production in the first half of the year at its core asset, the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe, and an underperformance...

31 minutes ago