Over 1.1M records inadvertently exposed by Texas adoption agency

Hackread reports that Texas-based Gladney Center for Adoption had more than 1.1 million records accidentally leaked by a misconfigured customer relationship management platform enabling inter-organizational casework and communication management.

Included in the unsecured 2.49 GB database were personal and sensitive details belonging to children, adoptive parents, birth families, and staff members, including names, contact information, and case notes, according to an analysis by cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler published on Website Planet. Aside from revealing the personal histories, adoption denial reasons, family backgrounds, and legal affairs of applicants, such a database also leaked 284,000 email metadata records that referenced the adoption agency's communications with other healthcare and social service providers, said Fowler, who remains uncertain about the ownership of the database. Such a leak has prompted Fowler to urge the implementation of baseline encryption standards for health or children's data. Organizations should not only restrict sensitive data access and conduct routine audits but also remove or archive unused data and bolster cybersecurity training for their staff, Fowler added.