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A company you probably never heard of would have unveiled some of the most personal data of "almost every American citizen," a security researcher said Wednesday.
Exactis, a leading Palm Coast-based data company, Fla., Reportedly leaked data from 340 million people, according to security researcher Vinny Troia, who discovered what he described as a violation earlier this month. Recorded footage includes nearly two terabytes of data, according to a Wired report released Wednesday.
The data in question does not include payment information or social security numbers, but includes e-mail addresses, addresses and telephone numbers as well as other personal information such as habits , leisure and the number of children.
Exactis did not respond to multiple requests from MarketWatch for comment. The site exactis.com did not load in the first hours of play.
Exactis is exactly what Exactis?
Exactis LLC is a compiler and aggregator of commercial and consumer data, with a "universal data warehouse" that stores 3.5 billion consumer, business and digital records, updated monthly . The private company, founded in 2015, has offices in Florida, California and New York and has only 10 employees, according to the company's LinkedIn profile.
Steve Hardigree, General Manager, has been with Exactis since September 2015, according to LinkedIn. He is currently the CEO of the BrightSpeed B2B data provider, which daily compiles 50 million business contacts for direct mail prospecting and telemarketing.
Hardigree also founded eDirect Inc., an email marketing and information services company, which was acquired by Seisent Corp. in April 1998 and is now known as Equifax Direct Marketing Services. The Exactis Florida Park Drive S. office address 1, in Palm Coast, Florida, puts the B. Paul Katz Professional Center there.
How does Exactis have this information?
Exactis gets information about users through cookies According to Mark Weinstein, privacy expert and founder of the MeWe social media site, small packets of data sent by a website when a user visit and store it in his data. These files help the website track the movements of the user on the site. When cookies are collected on different websites, this helps to create a broader picture of a user's browsing habits. "Cookies follow everything we do on the web, they synchronize, prick each other and share the data they have about you and ask for the sites you visit. Do the same," he said. "Today's cookies can link your mobile phone to your laptop, home monitoring devices, and more. Creepy? Scary? Orwellian? Yes Yes Yes! So imagine that Exactis, like Facebook
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and.al, know all about you – really. "
Exactis is not the only company that uses cookies to collect information on the web." Others include Epsilon, Acxiom, Palantir, Google GOOG, Amazon AMZN, Facebook – none of which are n & # 39; 39, immediately responded to the request for comment.The business turnover of the "Big data" market rose from $ 7.6 billion in 2011 to $ 35 billion in 2017. It is expected to reach $ 103 billion. dollars from here 2027.
What Does Exactis Violation Mean to You? According to Steven Bearak, President and CEO of IdentityForce Identity Security Company, the robbery has affected millions of people.Because there is no way to know for sure if you have been touched, it suggests that all consumers are monitoring social media accounts, bank accounts and credit reports and be alert for potential takeovers or fo Here are some other tips that he suggested to do now:
• Request a free copy of your annual credit report: Take great care in reviewing your credit reports. solvency. If you find inaccurate information, contact the companies listed on the credit report directly. You can also contact the Identity Theft Resource Center, a non-profit organization, at (888) 400-5530 to help you and / or subscribe to an identity verification and registration service. credit to notify you when your personal information is used.
• If you confirm that you are the victim of an identity theft, create an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission: Wait for it. law enforcement to request a copy of this report when you contact them. Consider placing an extended fraud alert or security freeze on your credit: Creditors will still have access to your credit report, even if you have placed a seven-year extended fraud alert, but you must first identify yourself before granting credit. A credit freeze usually prevents creditors from accessing your credit report. To request one, you must call each credit bureau directly.
• Filing your tax return as soon as you can: Filing an advance tax return protects you against identity thieves who may file and collect your rebate Tax before you. You can also request a personal identification number (PIN) to submit your tax return. In the case of the Equifax
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data breach, it is particularly relevant to stay on the lookout for this in order to allow time to resolve any issues.
• Contact the Social Security Administration: Request a copy of your payroll report to verify that your Social Security number is not used fraudulently, which could require you to pay taxes for the salary earned by someone who stole your information.
• : Request a copy of your health insurance return to identify fraudulent medical claims.
How can consumers avoid follow-up?
Consumers can reduce the amount of data collected on them by using privacy plugins like "Privacy Badger", an add-on for Google Chrome, and other browsers that do not allow consumers to view the details. to be followed without their permission.
Most browsers, under "settings", also allow users to send a "Do not track" message. "R is equivalent to browsing traffic, so when you visit a website, it will not collect data based on your visit and will not target you with ads based on websites you've visited before."
Weinstein recommends Apple's
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Safari browser, which removes cookies to give people greater privacy. Until the government takes action to hold businesses accountable, offenses like this will continue, "said Carl Wright, chief tax officer, AttackIQ Corporate Security Company
]. these organizations are responsible to those affected, "he said. "This will be the only way to ensure that businesses take the necessary steps to secure consumer data."
Tomi Kilgore and Ciara Linnane contributed to this story.
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