Global Terrorism Database leaked, contains 2.2 million names of terror suspects
Researcher Chris Vickery claimed to have accessed a massive Global Terrorism Database containing names of more than 2.2 million individuals suspected of indulging in worldwide terrorist activities. Vickery made his find public on a Reddit thread saying that he had managed to lay hands on a copy of 2014 version of the World-Check confidential database. The World-Check database is super confidential and used by world governments, intelligence agencies and premier banks.
According to Vickery, the leaked World-Check database contains more than 2.2 Million records of people with suspected terrorist, organized crime, money laundering, bribery, corruption links, and “other unsavory activities.”
World-Check database is published by Thomson Reuters and is used by 4,500 world institutions, including 49 of the world’s 50 largest banks, more than 300 government and intelligence agencies, and law firms. Thomson Reuters publishes the database in utmost secrecy and access to it is strongly restricted under European privacy laws. When asked about the leaked World-Check 2014 global terrorism database, Reuters said that an unnamed third-party may have leaked outdated version of the database online.
Vickery stated on the Reddit thread that he did not indulge in any sort of hack to access the database.
“No hacking was involved in my acquisition of this data. I would call it more of a leak than anything, although not directly from Thomson Reuters. The exact details behind that can be shared at a later time.”
Vickery said that the database did not have any protection or encryption and he could view the database without login credentials after downloading it. Vickery said that the database was still openly available online despite him informing Thomson Reuters about its online location.
“As far as I know, the original location of the leak is still exposed to the public internet,” said Vickery. “Thomson Reuters is working feverishly to get it secured.”
According to Vickery, the downloaded database contains a number of categories along with the terror suspects dates and places of birth in an effort to help banks and government entities check they are looking into the right people.The World-Check database has repeatedly been accused of falsely designating individuals and organizations as terrorists on the list without their knowledge.
