Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
- Around 300,000 taxi passengers’ personal information was left exposed on the internet due to a data leak involving Dublin-based taxi dispatch system provider iCabbi.
- The breach impacted nearly 300,000 individuals whose records were exposed, including names, phone numbers, email addresses, and user IDs primarily from the UK and Ireland.
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. 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. The breach exposed various email addresses from various providers and private domains, including gmail, hotmail, yahoo, iCloud, Outlook, Live, BBC, and government agencies like the NIH and HM Treasury. Upon discovering the breach, Fowler sent a responsible disclosure notice to iCabbi, prompting the company to restrict 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. 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 in the future. Both passengers and industry stakeholders should prioritize data security and safeguard against cyber threats, making this breach a call to action. 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.
