Microsoft Patches Major Data Leak

– Microsoft corrected a massive security oversight that resulted in the exposure of 38 terabytes of private data.
– The leak was found in the company’s AI GitHub repository.
– The failure occurred unintentionally when open-source training data was released.
– The released information also featured a disk backup from two ex-employees’ workstations containing confidential information.

Fixing the Humongous Data Leak

As reliable as your dad’s old flip phone, Microsoft moved hastily on Monday to amend an enormous security blunder. This “oopsie-daisy” moment resulted in the airing of 38 terabytes of confidential data. Do you know how much data that is? If each byte was a byte-sized candy, we’d be dealing with a Halloween sweet stash enough for 3800 Halloweens times ten thousand! Now that’s a spooky amount of sweets!

Hide-and-Seek with Leaks in the Repository

The hole in the bucket, dear Liza, was found hiding in the expansive field of the company’s AI GitHub repository. It’s like that one hide-and-seek champion who made the perfect hiding spot in the garden shed, only it was unintentional, and that garden shed was leaking valuable data, not just dusty garden tools.

Accidental Showcase of Open-source Data

The dam burst happened when open-source training data was being shown off, kind of like proudly displaying your dad’s old vinyl collection for the neighbors, but accidentally including his “Guilty Pleasure Tunes too”.

The Backup Blunder

Adding salt to the cloud data wound, this oopsie-carnival also featured an unintended preview of a disk backup containing secret data. This backup belongs to two previous Microsoft employees. Lesson learned – don’t forget to check your backups, kids! It’s like accidentally including your teenage diary in a garage sale.

Overall Summary

In a nutshell, Microsoft had a “my bad” moment that resulted in a data-spill of epic proportions. Like a garden hose left on in the yard, 38 terabytes of data were unintentionally let loose from the AI GitHub repository during the release of training data. The slip-up also revealed the backup of workstations from two earlier Microsoft workers, leaking all of their tech secrets like a soap-opera plot twist. Jokes aside, this considerable breach deeply underlines the importance of ensuring secure data handling, especially internally.

Original Article: https://thehackernews.com/2023/09/microsoft-ai-researchers-accidentally.html