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Reputation.com inadvertently exposes 120 million backend records in major data leak

A major data exposure at the online reputation management firm Reputation.com has revealed approximately 120 million records and 320GB of logs, contained in a poorly secured server that was publicly accessible. The logs originate from a logging and monitoring system used by the company and include session cookies as well as other backend identifiers that could enable account takeovers of customers’ social media profiles.

 

 

Researchers discovered the exposure in mid-August 2025 and noted the data belonged to a system used by hundreds of brands, including several Fortune 500 companies such as US Bank, Ford, and General Motors. Some of the major brands served by Reputation.com provide automotive, retail, healthcare, and hospitality services.

The exposed server used a data visualization and exploration tool connected to multiple applications. The logs were organised into monthly indices with names suggesting activities such as create, read, update, and delete. Some indices held millions of documents, illustrating the volume of data being processed by the system. The records include timestamps of events, unique identifiers for companies and sessions, raw cookie strings that capture user-session data and tracking information, and other event metadata.

Because the logs include session cookies that may allow active access to accounts without needing passwords, the risk to customers is deemed high. The exposed data could be leveraged by threat actors to hijack social media, business listings, or analytics dashboards for the brands served by Reputation.com. In turn, this could facilitate misinformation campaigns, damage brand reputation, or enable further compromise of connected systems.

Brand customers of Reputation.com may face significant exposure even if they were unaware of the incident. Since the data breach involves a third-party platform providing services to numerous companies, the downstream impact could extend well beyond a single organisation. Researchers pointed out that attackers could manipulate business listings, post fake reviews, hijack social widgets, or intercept survey responses, all actions that can undermine trust and operational integrity.

Reputation.com was contacted by researchers on multiple occasions, but at the time of publication, the server remained exposed, and the company did not provide a timely response. It is unclear whether the data has been accessed by unauthorised parties, though the publicly accessible nature of the logs suggests that the risk of compromise was real.

The incident raises broader questions about how companies protect backend systems that sit behind the scenes but handle vast volumes of sensitive log, session, and identity data. While front-line applications often receive scrutiny, the logging infrastructure may be overlooked, leaving a weak link in the digital supply chain. In this case, the logging system was accessible without authentication, indicating serious gaps in access control and vendor oversight.

For affected individuals and companies, the advice is clear. Organisations that rely on third-party platforms should perform audits of vendor systems, require encryption at rest and in transit, restrict public access to logging indices, and rotate any session tokens or cookies that may have been exposed. Individuals working at affected companies should monitor for unusual account activity, enable two-factor authentication where available, and treat unexpected changes in social media or business listings as potential alarms.

The exposure of 120 million records held by Reputation.com is one of the largest data incidents of the year for business services platforms. Because it involves dozens of major brands, the reputational and operational stakes are high. The full impact of the exposure remains to be seen, but the ease of access to critical backend logs makes this case a textbook example of risk in seemingly peripheral systems.

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