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Exposed United Nations Database Left Sensitive Information Accessible Online


More than 115,000 files related to UN Women included detailed financial disclosures from organizations around the world—and personal details and testimonials from vulnerable individuals.

The documents range from staffing information and contracts to letters and even detailed financial audits about organizations working with vulnerable communities around the world, including under repressive regimes. Such information is also ripe for abuse in scams since the UN is such a trusted organization, and the exposed data would provide details on internal operations and potentially serve as templates for malicious actors to create legitimate-looking communications that purport to come from the UN. If the finding spurs infrastructure review and other detections, it could go a long way toward helping UN Women—and the sprawling ecosystem of UN organizations more broadly—catch any other easy-to-fix errors and prevent potential data breaches.

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