Tiversa Identifies Over 13 Million Breached Internet Files in the Past Twelve Months
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA, May 28, 2009 - Tiversa today announced the findings of new research that revealed 13,185,252 breached files emanating from over 4,310,839 sources on P2P file-sharing networks within a twelve month period from March 01, 2008 - March 01, 2009.
The research is based on data in an ongoing study by Tiversa, whose patent-pending technology monitors roughly 450 million users issuing more than 1.5 billion searches a day. The files analyzed included only those identified on behalf of Tiversa’s existing customer base during the 12 month period. It’s also important to note that the referenced files are business documents only (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .pst, etc). Music, software and movie files (.avi, .mov, .wma, .mpeg4, .mp3, etc) were not included in the study.
This new data clearly demonstrates that P2P file-sharing risk is not effectively being addressed by the security protocols of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, as these organizations commonly have exposure across the Extended Enterprise. Tiversa’s findings also hint at the enormity of the issue at hand.
“P2P file-sharing presents a broad spectrum risk to organizations of all shapes and sizes. This is a horizontal issue occurring across all verticals”, says Robert Boback, Tiversa CEO. “The information being shared across these networks is staggering. In a typical day, Tiversa might see the Protected Health Information (PHI) of tens of thousands being disclosed by a hospital or medical billing company, the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of an organization’s global workforce being exposed through a third-party payroll provider and a Fortune 500 company exposing corporate IP, such as pre-patent documentation or executive board minutes.”
Tiversa’s latest research reinforces warnings aired in recent media reports, as well as, growing concerns voiced by Congress in new legislative discussions aimed at protecting consumers by requiring stricter privacy and security procedures around computerized data containing personal information (H.R. 2221 Data Accountability and Trust Act).
Findings released in February 2009, in a collaborative research study (“Data Hemorrhages in the Health-Care Sector”) between Tiversa and The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College highlight these same risks by focusing on the exposure rate of sensitive data in the healthcare industry.
Over a two-week period, Dartmouth College researchers and Tiversa searched file-sharing networks for key terms associated with the top ten publicly traded health care firms in the country, and discovered a treasure trove of sensitive documents. Found was a spreadsheet from an AIDS clinic with 232 client names, including Social Security numbers, addresses and birth-dates. Discovered were databases for a hospital system that contained detailed information on more than 20,000 patients, including Social Security numbers, contact details, insurance records, and diagnosis information.
Also identified was a 1,718-page document from a medical testing laboratory containing patient Social Security numbers, insurance information, and treatment codes for thousands of patients, as was 350+ megabytes of data comprising sensitive reports relating to patients of a group of anesthesiologists.
In today’s world of open communication, one of the greatest challenges privacy, information security and risk management professionals face is how to provide open and direct access to information while protecting sensitive and confidential documents. Tiversa has seen millions of individual records and sensitive files inadvertently being shared by organizations, their agents, key suppliers, and trusted partners. This type of confidential information is continuing to be exposed and risks being used for competitive intelligence, fraud, identity theft, medical identity theft and criminal gain.
Tiversa provides P2P Intelligence and Security Services to corporations, government agencies and individuals based on patent pending technologies that can monitor over 450 million users issuing 1.5 billion searches a day. Requiring no software or hardware, Tiversa detects, locates and identifies exposed files in real-time, while assisting in remediation and prevention efforts.
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