Petco accidentally exposed heaps of customer information

Petco has accidentally exposed a whole lot of customer data and personal information, according to a report by TechCrunch. This is thanks to a security lapse involving its Vetco clinics website, forcing the company to take a portion of that site offline.

Petco has confirmed the leak and TechCrunch noted that the security lapse allowed anyone to download customer records without login information. The exposed data includes customer names, driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and even financial information. It also includes customer records from visits to Vetco, like medical histories, pet names, vaccination records and other stuff like that.

This was due to an incorrect software setting that made a number of files accessible online, according to a notice filed by California’s attorney general and reported on by Mashable. The company has since corrected the setting, removed the exposed files and ...