Around 300,000 taxi passengers’ personal information was left exposed on the internet, causing concern in the UK and Ireland.
Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered the breach involving Dublin-based taxi dispatch system provider iCabbi and subsequently reported it to vpnMentor.
Fowler stumbled upon a non-password-protected database containing a wealth of passengers’ personal information (PII), including names, phone numbers, and email addresses.
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The breach impacted nearly 300,000 individuals whose records were exposed.
The database contained 22,745 records in .csv format, detailing contact information and user IDs of customers primarily located in the UK and Ireland.
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The Exposed Data
The breach exposed various email addresses from various providers and private domains. The breakdown of the exposed email addresses includes 117,231 Gmail accounts, 65,060 Hotmail, 17,588 Yahoo, 18,099 iCloud, 12,798 Outlook, and 7,484 Live, among others.
The list also featured email addresses from significant media outlets such as the BBC and government agencies, including the NIH and HM Treasury, highlighting the breach’s potential ramifications.
Upon discovering the breach, Fowler swiftly sent a responsible disclosure notice to iCabbi.
The company reacted promptly, restricting public access to the database the following day.
However, it remains unclear how long the data was exposed or if unauthorized parties accessed the non-password-protected database before the breach was contained.
iCabbi, known for its dispatch and fleet management technology, aims to modernize and manage taxi services, positioning itself as a competitive alternative to ride-hailing companies.
With over one billion bookings registered across 15 countries, the company’s influence in the taxi operation industry is significant.
In 2023, the UK’s taxi operation industry alone was valued at an estimated £8.6 billion, underscoring the potential impact of such a data breach.
As the investigation into the breach continues, the focus will likely shift towards understanding how such a significant amount of sensitive data was left unprotected, and what steps can be taken to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Both passengers and industry stakeholders should prioritize data security and safeguard against cyber threats, making this breach a call to action.
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