Camgirl sites exposed data for millions of users
It also revealed details for some of the sex workers.
Exposed databases are already enough of a security problem, but the latest incident could be particularly damaging for both porn site visitors and sex workers. Condition:Black security researchers have discovered that Barcelona's VTS Media left a database for its camgirl network (including sites like amateur.tv) unprotected for weeks. The trove included months of logs for millions of people, including their usernames, IP addresses, viewing habits, private chats and even passwords from failed login attempts. Some account details also escaped for account workers, Condition:Black told TechCrunch.
The database, which mostly included users from Europe, was locked down last week. It's not clear if any intruders accessed the database. An email to VTS Media bounced, so the company's stance on the issue isn't clear.
As with the database exposure at 3Fun's dating service, the camgirl site exposure isn't just a potential security risk. The viewing habits could be used to blackmail people worried their more socially conservative peers might learn about their sexual preferences. If there's an upshot, it's that the disclosure has revealed potential privacy issues. Would users be comfortable knowing that VTS is logging their 'private' conversations? However the company has been making use of that data, the exposure is a reminder of what could happen if that info fell into the wrong hands.
