MDPI
MediumMDPI's MongoDB breach exposed non-sensitive email exchanges (845k unique emails).
- Records exposed
- 845,012 records
- Breach date
- Breach Aug 30, 2016
- Last update
- Updated Mar 25, 2018
What data was exposed?
Fields reported as compromised in this breach record.
Why does this breach matter?
In-depth analysis of the breach and its implications.
In August 2016, the Swiss scholarly open-access publisher MDPI experienced a data breach where 17.5 GB of information from an exposed MongoDB database instance was extracted. This dataset included email correspondences involving MDPI's authors and reviewers, revealing email addresses, IP addresses, names, and contents of email messages. MDPI confirmed that the system has since been secured, and noted that the breached data primarily encompassed publicly accessible author and reviewer details, determining subscriber notifications to be unnecessary.
Impact Analysis
Understanding the scope and consequences of this breach.
- User Impact
- Users' publicly available professional correspondence was exposed.
- Business Impact
- MDPI faced a minor reputational risk and implemented immediate cybersecurity protocol improvements.
- Affected Sectors
- Publishing
- Geographic Impact
- Global
What You Should Do
Recommended actions to take in response to this breach.
If You Were Affected
- •Verify whether your professional correspondence content adhered to organizational policies.
- •Monitor your email for targeted phishing attempts.
Preventive Measures
- •Ensure that all database instances are properly secured and kept updated.
- •Establish regular audits to detect unprotected services quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this breach and what it means for you.