vpnMentor discovers Telegram dump containing personal info on millions of hotel guests
The Israeli-founded company promotes internet freedom and has created free tools to help verify online security
A dump of four archive files totaling 8.7GB of data regarding guests of MGM hotels around the world was discovered on Telegram – for anyone to find, and for free.
On May 22nd, 2022, the vpnMentor research team stumbled upon this dump. According to the team, it is unclear how many people were exposed, but according to the claims of the hackers who shared the files, they assume at least 30 million people had some of their data leaked.
In February 2020, over 10 million records were published on a hacking forum, while all 142+ million were sold on a dark web cybercrime marketplace in July 2020 for 2,900USD. The breach was initially discovered by MGM Resorts back in the summer of 2019.
This time, the whole breach is being shared for free on Telegram.
The data exposed customers from before 2017 and included full names, postal addresses, dates of birth. over 24 million unique email addresses, and over 30 million unique phone numbers.
At the time of publication, there has yet to be an official comment or announcement from MGM.
vpnMentor is owned by Webselence, an Israeli content optimizing online platform which specializes in consumer-focused privacy and security content. Last year, the company was acquired by multinational cyber firm Kape for just over $149 million in cash and shares. vpnMentor’s team is comprised of over 200 cybersecurity researchers, writers and editors who focus on online privacy and freedom. Its content can be found in 29 languages.