885 Million Mortgage Documents Exposed Thanks to Website Vulnerability

885 Million Mortgage Documents Exposed Thanks to Website Vulnerability

First American Financial Corporation was made aware of a flaw that exposed their client's mortgage documents.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • May 29, 2019

Another week, another vulnerability making the private information public to the world. Last week, it was First American Financial Corporation who was notified by a well-known cybersecurity blogger that a flaw in its website was risking the information on 885 million records related to mortgage deals that dates back nearly 16 years.

According to Brian Krebs, writer of Krebs on Security, a flaw in an internet application allowed anyone with any basic web browser to see confidential data such as Social Security numbers, bank account details, driver's license and mortgage and tax records.  

The vulnerability was reported by Krebs on his blog and First American Financial quickly blocked all access as of last Friday.

"We are currently evaluating what effect, if any, this had on the security of customer information," the company said in a statement. "We will have no further comment until our internal review is completed."

According to the Associated Press, if the 885 million records were harvested by a bad actor, it would rank among one of the biggest leaks of data on the internet. 

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

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