Every now and then, a tech startup is caught red-faced spilling reams of data across the internet because of a lapse in security. It is easy to make mistakes for technology companies.
A database full of Amazon Prime viewing habits was found by a security researcher. Even though the database was not protected with a password, anyone with a web browser could access it.
The database named "Sauron" contained 215 million entries of pseudonymized viewing data, such as the name of the show or movie that is being streamed, what device it was streamed on, and other internal data.
The database was exposed to the internet on September 30.
The data cannot be used to personally identify customers because it was left on the internet for weeks without anyone knowing. A common problem that underpins many data exposures is the lack of a password for internet-facing server.
In order to get the data secured, Sen provided details of the database, and the information was passed on to Amazon. The database was not accessible immediately.
There was a deployment error. The problem has been solved and no account information was exposed. Adam Montgomery, an Amazon spokesman, said that this was not an issue with the service.
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