More than a million fingerprints and other sensitive data have been exposed online by a biometric security firm, researchers say.
Researchers working with cyber-security firm VPNMentor say they accessed data from a security tool called Biostar 2.
It is used by thousands of companies worldwide, including the UK’s Metropolitan Police, to control access to specific parts of secure facilities.
Suprema, the firm that offers Biostar 2, said it was addressing the issue.
“If there has been any definite threat on our products and/or services, we will take immediate actions and make appropriate announcements to protect our customers’ valuable businesses and assets,” a company spokesman told the Guardian.
According to VPNMentor, the exposed data, discovered on 5 August, was made private on 13 August.
It is not clear how long it was accessible.
As well as fingerprint records, the researchers say they found photographs of people, facial recognition data, names, addresses, passwords, employment history and records of when they had accessed secure areas.
Since news of the data exposure broke, some have questioned the extent to which real fingerprint data was made available.
However, the cyber-security researchers say they stand by their research.
Suprema said in a statement to the BBC it was aware of reports of the breach and was taking them “very seriously”.
“[Suprema] is investigating the allegations in the press reports and will liaise with any appropriate third parties and/or individuals as necessary.
“At this stage, it cannot make any further comment but will, if appropriate, issue a further press statement in due course, including corrections of any erroneous assertions in the reports to date.”
Among the UK organisations directly affected by the breach was Tile Mountain, a homeware retailer.
Biostar 2 was only used at the company’s head office in Stoke on Trent, IT director Colin Hampson said.
He said that since 26 February 2018 Tile Mountain had not been an “active client” of Suprema’s and had instead stored biometric data on its own secure internal servers.
“Despite Tile Mountain not being an active client of Suprema it is concerning that no contact was made to inform us that data may have been compromised – this could potentially have prevented Tile Mountain from carrying out its obligations under GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation],” he added.
“It’s crazy, just crazy,” Noam Rotem, one of the researchers who found the data, told the BBC.
He pointed out that biometric information such as fingerprints could never be made private again once lost.
He said he and his colleagues had had difficulty when trying to report the exposed data to Suprema.
“We started calling all of the offices one by one and had to deal with people just hanging up the phone,” he said.
In total, 23 gigabytes of data containing nearly 30 million records were found exposed online.
“This could be used in a wide range of criminal activities that would be disastrous for both the businesses and organisations affected, as well as their employees or clients,” said VPNMentor in a blog about the discovery.
The data leak was “horrendous”, according to Simon Birchall, managing director for Timeware, a British firm that installs Suprema fingerprint readers.
Mr Birchall said Timeware had developed its own software for the devices and did not provide Biostar 2 to clients.
“It looks like someone has taken the standard Biostar 2 product and installed it on an open network,” he told the BBC. “It’s just silly what they’ve done.”
Mr Rotem told the BBC that a number of British companies had been affected.
However, he was not able to confirm their names because he and his team did not download all the data they found in order to limit the privacy implications of the breach.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the BBC that the force was now checking whether it was one of the affected organisations.
Among other firms whose data was discovered were:
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office said it was aware of reports about Biostar 2 and would be making enquiries.
By Chris Baraniuk
Technology Reporter
Muujqk
ivermectin gel – vardenafil 20mg brand vardenafil tablet
Xzwxgb
stromectol without prescription – purchase vardenafil for sale cheap vardenafil 10mg
Ezlodx
order amoxicillin 250mg – order levitra pills levitra 10mg generic
Cleaxb
oral amoxicillin – buy amoxil 1000mg online buy levitra 10mg generic
Acdrvu
ampicillin online order – cipro 1000mg brand oral tadalafil 5mg
Oizkxo
buy ampicillin 250mg generic – cost cipro 500mg cialis 10mg canada
Hgxbxq
buy ceftin 500mg without prescription – generic cialis 20mg purchase cialis without prescription
Pajaxh
cefuroxime 250mg generic – robaxin drug order tadalafil 5mg without prescription
Zkamzq
rhinocort pills – purchase rhinocort sale order antabuse 500mg generic
Ckzhmu
order rhinocort sale – purchase cialis sale antabuse online
Dgdizg
sildenafil 50mg ca – ivermectin for humans buy ivermectin usa
Eyvbbx
order fildena generic – sildenafil for sale ivermectin lice oral
Gvsksm
order cephalexin 500mg for sale – buy generic cleocin 300mg erythromycin ca
Imbsfj
cephalexin brand – buy cleocin 300mg pill erythromycin pill
Wcdnwh
generic trimethoprim – order viagra 150mg purchase viagra online
Ijluar
buy sulfamethoxazole generic – sildenafil 50mg brand viagra next day delivery
Glkdss
buy generic augmentin 375mg – cialis 20mg usa cialis oral
Orktjw
augmentin without prescription – order cialis 20mg online real cialis
Sluioe
buy prednisolone 5mg pill – buy neurontin 600mg for sale cialis super active
Wuzfxo
buy prednisolone 10mg sale – buy cialis 5mg sale cialis online order
Bjaikq
purchase viagra pills – viagra 100mg brand viagra tablet
Yydslh
buy viagra 150mg for sale – buy viagra 100mg generic real viagra
נערות ליווי בחיפה
You need to take part in a contest for one of the highest quality sites on the net. I am going to recommend this site!
Best Dating Site 2022
Being a digital marketer today is definitely not easy! Not only do you need high-quality content, you need a lot of it. But creating good content is incredibly time consuming. At least that is what I thought until I came across WordAi… In case you have never heard of WordAi, it is a lightning fast content rewriter that uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically create unique variations of any piece of content. The best part is, WordAi creates rewrites that both humans and Google love. I know, that’s a bold claim and I was pretty skeptical myself. So I decided to test their claims with their free trial and can tell you honestly, I opted directly for the yearly subscription after that. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that WordAi is better than any other tool, service, or method on the market. I have been using WordAi to fill out my blogs and have already covered the cost of my yearly subscription. It’s crazy but I’m just scratching the surface of how far I can scale my SEO with WordAi! While I am using WordAi to scale my SEO efforts, you can also use WordAi to diversify your copy or even brainstorm to beat writer’s block! I could tell you about WordAi all day, but you really just need to try it for yourself. They are so confident in their technology that they offer a completely free 3-day trial AND a 30-day money back guarantee. So what are you waiting for? Click here to get started with WordAi for Free! https://bit.ly/wordai_com
נערות ליווי
I was extremely pleased to discover this page. I want to to thank you for ones time due to this wonderful read!! I definitely appreciated every part of it and I have you bookmarked to look at new information on your web site.
Paincally
Diwqwg [url=https://oscialipop.com]Cialis[/url] Drgzfr Erythromycin Cost Nxzbed buy cialis pills louer levitra en belgique Gegzpt In Marx JA ed. https://oscialipop.com – cheap cialis no prescription Xxjbvz Comprar Cialis Canarias
Abrtruign
Последний богатырь 2
Abertruign
війна в україні 2022 пророцтва в той день коли закінчиться війна коли почалась друга світова війна
A secret weapon for anyone who needs content
A secret weapon for anyone who needs content. I don’t need to tell you how important it is to optimize every step in your SEO pipeline. But unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to cut out time or money when it comes to getting good content. At least that’s what I thought until I came across Article Forge… Built by a team of AI researchers from MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Article Forge is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered content writer that uses deep learning models to write entire articles about any topic in less than 60 seconds. Their team trained AI models on millions of articles to teach Article Forge how to draw connections between topics so that each article it writes is relevant, interesting and useful. All their hard work means you just enter a few keywords and Article Forge will write a complete article from scratch making sure every thought flows naturally into the next, resulting in readable, high quality, and unique content. Put simply, this is a secret weapon for anyone who needs content. I get how impossible that sounds so you need to see how Article Forge writes a completearticle in less than 60 seconds! https://stanford.io/3G7Hfmp
visit the following internet page
I was excited to uncover this page. I wanted to thank you for your time for this particularly fantastic read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it and I have you saved as a favorite to look at new stuff on your blog.} {visit the following web site|visit the following site|visit the following web site|Visit Homepage|visit the following web site|visit my webpage|visit the following internet site|visit the following webpage|visit the following site|visit the following internet site
Best Dating Site
🎁 Congratulations Superlotto in honor of its 25th anniversary gives you free lottery ticket 6/45! Fill out a ticket: https://cutt.us/NBPxO 🎁
Best Dating Site
❤️ You have unread messages from Melissa (2)! Click Here: http://bit.do/fSVbX ❤️
Best Dating Site 2022
❤️ Veronica want to meet you! Click Here: http://bit.do/fSTHz ❤️
Best Dating Site
❤️ Mary is interested in your profile! Click Here: http://bit.do/fSSDp ❤️
Best Dating App 2022
❤️ Anne liked you! Click Here: http://bit.do/fSRCY ❤️
buy anabolic online
Thanks for the good article, I hope you continue to work as well.Спаситель на продажу
buy anabolic online
Thanks for the good article, I hope you continue to work as well.Спаситель на продажу
Thad
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after checking through some of the post I
realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and
I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
Autumn
Howdy outstanding blog! Does running a blog like this require a lot of work?
I’ve absolutely no knowledge of coding but I had been hoping
to start my own blog in the near future. Anyways, if you have any suggestions or tips for new
blog owners please share. I know this is off topic however I
simply needed to ask. Kudos!
erotik
thanks a lot considerably this fabulous website is official as well as simple Clarabelle Matthieu Rorrys
bedava
Everything is very open with a precise explanation of the issues. It was really informative. Your website is very helpful. Thanks for sharing! Glenna Marv Krahling
720p
Thank you very much for helping me. I love sucking dick btw hmu Maighdiln Albrecht Jarvis
indirmeden
Me ya jankar khusi gun ki ya ticket winner hone ki bat gorib logo ko bahut khusi aiga. Esme Consalve Hedwiga
amateur
After going over a few of the blog articles on your blog, I seriously like your technique of writing a blog. I book marked it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back in the near future. Please visit my website too and let me know your opinion. Konstanze Rick Dulci
turkce
magnificent issues altogether, you just gained a brand new reader. What may you suggest in regards to your put up that you just made a few days in the past? Any sure? Tabbitha Andreas Astraea
diziler
Some truly nice stuff on this web site, I enjoy it. Isidora Burty Torrence
yabanci
I blog often and I genuinely thank you for your information. This article has really peaked my interest. I will bookmark your blog and keep checking for new details about once a week. I opted in for your RSS feed as well. Florenza Lefty Hasseman
720p
Jamur bisa merusak hasil panen hingga lebih dari 50%. Con Herve Kado
online
Very good article. I am experiencing some of these issues as well.. Alida Pate Mic
altyazili
Sounds as if the Sheas had a wonderful and memorable time in CR!! Happy for all of you! Liva Ramsey Malka
diziler
After looking into a number of the blog posts on your web page, I honestly appreciate your way of writing a blog. I book-marked it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near future. Please check out my website too and let me know your opinion. Karmen Brandtr Nilla
watch
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I am stunned why this twist of fate did not came about in advance! I bookmarked it.| Katuscha Early Sell
turkce
I besides conceive hence, perfectly composed post! . Lilly Berkie Ahab
bedava
I cling on to listening to the news bulletin talk about receiving free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i get some? Dena Erik Bush
bluray
This place looks so wonderful, peaceful and full of colour! Looks like the best place to go for a Holiday! Cacilie Linn Unders
torrent
When I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment. There has to be a way you are able to remove me from that service? Thank you! Ruthy Merv Yung
torrent
Hi there. I discovered your website by the use of Google whilst searching for a related subject, your website got here up. It looks good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then. Jacinta Rockwell Bakemeier
dublaj
You completed certain nice points there. I did a search on the theme and found the majority of folks will agree with your blog. Rowena Reid Derron
yabanci
I have recently started a web site, the info you provide on this website has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work. Benetta Abdel Mungovan
filmkovasi
Somebody essentially help to make seriously posts I would state. This is the very first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I surprised with the research you made to create this particular publish incredible. Excellent job! Pegeen Dana Alida
netflix
Check below, are some absolutely unrelated web-sites to ours, even so, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use. Peri Magnum Octave
karlar ülkesi
I like it when individuals get together and share views. Julee Abelard Binnie
deadpool
I was just searching for this information for a while. Beverlie Thaxter Gipps
bedava
Thanks for the blog post. Really looking forward to read more. Awesome. Oona Marijn Domenic
web-dl
Great looking website. Presume you did a great deal of your own html coding. Gretchen Keene Armanda
ucretsiz
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful article. Many thanks for supplying this info. Nedi Benjie Gala
ucretsiz
I love it whenever people come together and share opinions. Great website, stick with it. Cathee Nobe Merrile
bedava
I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet viewers, its really really fastidious article on building up new webpage. Phaedra Colan Corbet
indir
These are actually impressive ideas in about blogging. You have touched some pleasant factors here. Meryl Jephthah Grobe
indir
I truly appreciate this article. Really looking forward to read more. Want more. Rennie Vasili Gill
indir
Really nice style and design and superb articles , very little else we need : D. Rachel Gal Al
yabanci
Very neat blog post. Really looking forward to read more. Want more. Leontyne Tyrus Deana
sikis izle
Enjoyed every bit of your article post. Really looking forward to read more. Wilhelmina Saunder Okubo
sikis izle
I agree,it really is my opinion that raising the rates does more damage than good. Pearle Griff Rinaldo
sikis izle
Excellent post! We will be linking to this great post on our site. Keep up the good writing. Fawnia Major Giverin
720p
It is very exciting to read your post. I love it and please keep them coming. Cassey Sandro Merc
turkce
Hi colleagues, its impressive piece of writing about educationand entirely defined, keep it up all the time. Cherie Yorker Yablon