As if this weren’t enough, accidental data leaks make is very easy for your personal information to fall into the wrong hands. The latest such example is the Alteryx data leak that affected millions of American households. Cybersecurity researchers from UpGuard recently discovered that a cloud-based data repository containing data from Alteryx about millions of persons was left publicly exposed. The problem was that the default security settings allowed any AWS “Authenticated Users” to download data, as UpGuard explains. While the folder does not contain any names, personal details such as addresses, phone numbers, hobbies, income and even mortgage information are indeed available, which makes it rather easy to identify the respective persons. UpGuard researchers believe that the data actually comes from an Alteryx product. The good news is that Alteryx already secured the database and is no longer available to the public.

Another wake-up call about privacy protection issues

Data privacy and security is one of the biggest problems in the IT industry. The entities handling sensitive personal information sometimes commit childish errors that leave millions exposed. Moreover, as UpGuard explains, most enterprises don’t even have the ability to assess the security strategies of external vendors. Taking into account this recent piece of news, check out the articles below to learn how you can protection personal information:

Best Privacy Protection Software for Windows 10 These are the best Chrome extensions to protect your privacy in 2017 10 best VPN software clients for Windows 10

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