China Hit by World’s Largest Data Leak: 4 Billion Records Exposed
China Hit by World’s Largest Data Leak: 4 Billion Records Exposed
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
A massive data leak of four billion personal records belonging to Chinese users has become the largest breach in history.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- The exposed data includes WeChat, Alipay, financial, and residential information.
- Database likely built for profiling, surveillance, or data enrichment purposes.
- The server was removed before researchers could identify its owner.
The Cybernews cybersecurity team discovered a massive 631GB database, which lacked password protection and remained fully accessible to the public.
The exposed data includes financial information, home addresses, phone numbers, user IDs, and metadata from Chinese super-apps WeChat and Alipay.
Cybernews explains that the ‘wechatid_db’ database contained more than 805 million user records, representing the largest collection in the leak. The ‘address_db’ database contained 780 million entries that included geographic information. Finally, the bank database exposed 630 million records, which included names, birthdates, card numbers, and additional information.
The exposed data provides criminals with the opportunity to commit fraud, execute massive phishing operations, and conduct intelligence activities.
Researchers believe the leak could allow criminals to commit fraud, launch large-scale phishing attacks, and even conduct intelligence operations.
“The sheer volume and diversity of data types in this leak suggests that this was likely a centralized aggregation point, potentially maintained for surveillance, profiling, or data enrichment purposes,” said the team, as reported by Cybernews.
Because the exposed server was quickly taken offline, Cybernews couldn’t determine who was behind the database. “Individuals who may be affected by this leak have no direct recourse due to the anonymity of the owner and lack of notification channels,” the team warned.
The current data breach exceeds the 1.2 billion-record leak that occurred during the previous year. This breach stands as the biggest single-source Chinese user data exposure ever identified, surpassing all previous Chinese data breaches.
Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash
UN Says Tech Giants’ Carbon Emissions Rose 150% in Last 3 Years Amid AI Boom
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- A UN report reveals carbon emissions from top AI companies rose by 150% between 2020 and 2023.
- Amazon’s operational emissions grew 182% in 2023 compared to 2020, while Microsoft’s rose by 155%, Meta’s by 145%, and Alphabet’s by 138%.
- 10 tech firms account for half of the sector’s emissions.
According to the report , titled Greening Digital Companies 2025: Monitoring emissions and climate commitments , the use of AI technologies has contributed to an increase in both direct and indirect global emissions.
“The digital companies assessed in this year’s report consumed an estimated 581 TWh of electricity (2.1% of global demand), with AI being one probable driver of this growth,” states the document. And 10 tech companies were responsible for 50% of those emissions.
“Currently, there are no standards or legislative requirements for companies to disclose their AI emissions or energy consumption, which makes understanding the impact of AI on company-level energy use less straightforward,” states the report. “However, data from company reports show an increasing trend in operational emissions for companies with a high level of AI adoption.”
The study noted that the combined annual carbon footprint of these tech companies is equivalent to the total yearly emissions of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile combined.
The UN agency emphasized that companies should disclose more comprehensive data and publish dedicated climate reports.
A recent report shared by Nature also noted how AI has been rapidly increasing energy demands —in Ireland, data centers consume 20% of the national electricity— and highlighted the lack of data on energy consumption.
