Huge Data Leak Could Have Been Prevented with Proper Configurations

Huge Data Leak Could Have Been Prevented with Proper Configurations

What happens when your company configures something on its infrastructure incorrectly? It turns out, according to a recent big data leak, that a lot can go wrong, especially in regards to cybersecurity and the privacy of sensitive records. The affected software was not an unknown third-party application, but was actually Microsoft! How did one of the world’s largest software developers put out software that potentially exposed millions of records? Let’s dig into the details.

The Microsoft Data Leak

The data leak in question affected users of Microsoft’s Power Apps, a software that is widely used by many companies and organizations to share data, including big-name organizations and agencies such as American Airlines, Maryland’s Health Department, and New York’s Metropolitan Transport Authority. This data leak was discovered by cybersecurity researchers at UpGuard, who promptly notified Microsoft after determining that the data leak was a potential security issue.

The issue has since been resolved, but throughout the duration in which the data leak was still active, information such as names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, dates of birth, vaccination records, demographic information, and other sensitive information was unsecured and, therefore, could have been stolen or compromised by hackers. While this information was unsecured and could have been accessed at any point during this time, there is no indication that it was accessed in any improper way.

The crazy thing about this whole fiasco is that Microsoft claims that the application was working as intended and that the root of the issue was the way that the software itself defaulted to a setting that allowed for this type of data leak. Microsoft has yet to comment on why the default setting led to such a lack of security, but they have since adjusted the default settings to allow for greater privacy. Still, this does not necessarily excuse the lax privacy settings that the program defaulted to. Something like this really highlights the importance of data protection.

Protect Your Florida Business Today

It all goes to show that you can never be too sure that your business’s sensitive information is properly secured, as the consequences of having said data leak can be quite devastating. Under ordinary circumstances, a security audit could have been used to identify this risk, but the fact that nobody knew that this was a concern meant that nobody was actively looking for it and, therefore, the security issue flew under the radar for far too long. It’s just one reason why you need to be extraordinarily careful with any sort of configurations your company makes to any tools that are used to store, share, or disseminate information like any records listed above.

COMPANYNAME can help your business ensure that all of its system settings are properly configured, as well as work toward properly securing sensitive information of all types. With us on your side, implementing data backup and recovery services, you’ll never need to worry about whether or not you are unknowingly putting information at risk. We can monitor your network, perform security audits, and fulfill just about any other tasks that need to occur to keep your business as secure as possible.

To learn more about our Tampa IT Services and more, contact the cybersecurity experts of COMPANYNAME at PHONENUMBER.

Interested in our Services?

You should be able to run your business without having to worry about managed it support or the security of your data.

Read more about our services and how we can help you.

Related Posts

What to Expect from 5G in 2021

What to Expect from 5G in 2021

2020 was a contentious—and for the wireless industry, momentous—year. Marking the official start of 5G networks, 2020’s events amongst mobile providers helped to reinvigorate an

Read More »

Schedule Your Free Consultation

"*" indicates required fields

Services you are interested in?*
Yes, subscribe me to Newsletter
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Schedule Your
Free Consultation

Are you exposed to cybersecurity, or technology obsolescence risks? Are their ways to reduce your ongoing Managed IT Support costs or improve business operations?

Information Security by your Managed IT Services provider