The cybernews® research team identified an open ElasticSearch database, which contained more than 243GB of data detailing current and historic ship positions that is exposed to the public. Analyzing the data, the team determined that it is highly likely to belong to the Yangtze river ports of Nanjing and Zhangjiagang.
The discovery is especially timely, given the escalation of the geopolitical situation caused by Russia’s recent decision to invade Ukraine. “This could have gone very badly if bad guys had found it before we did,” said a spokesperson for Cybernews.
