NAS Holes: Air Force Data Leak the Tip of Very Large Iceberg

The report documents a series of data breaches caused by Internet-exposed, misconfigured network attached storage (NAS) devices — including a backup belonging to a US Air Force officer — that exposed sensitive personnel files, law enforcement audio/photos, and healthcare records. Researchers (MacKeeper) discovered these devices via Shodan and found many accessible through the rsync protocol (port 873), estimating about 10% of publicly reachable NAS devices are misconfigured; the incidents highlight risks from default/weak credentials, software flaws, and shadow IT across military, government, and private sectors.