New Search Engine Indexeus Exposes Hackers, Data Breaches

A new search engine called Indexeus sought to expose hackers and their exploits unless they “donated” $1 for every record that they wanted to conceal from public view. In response to the claim that this is extortion, Portuguese founder Jason Relinquo says the aim of Indexeus wasn’t blackmail but to expose security risks and data vulnerabilities. […]

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Indexeus

A new search engine called Indexeus sought to expose hackers and their exploits unless they “donated” $1 for every record that they wanted to conceal from public view. In response to the claim that this is extortion, Portuguese founder Jason Relinquo says the aim of Indexeus wasn’t blackmail but to expose security risks and data vulnerabilities.

The site, in somewhat awkward English, says the following about its purpose:

This is a service which provides easy access to hundreds of databases, which is very useful if you don’t want to bring your databases around or if you just don’t have any. The goal is to make people realize that using the same information all over is stupid and will lead to you getting your information stolen, but also showing you how badly administrators keep your private data stored. This can serve as a tool to see if your info has been compromised, but also as a way of doxing people easier. We do not tell you how to use it, that’s up to you, but keep in mind we do not endorse hacking of others accounts, but we will not stop this. You will have to do this yourself.

The word “doxing” apparently means identifying hackers who may have caused the data breaches — “working backwards from someone’s various online personas to determine their real-life name, address and other personal data,” according to security expert Brian Krebs.

Apparently it’s now free to request removal of any record, per the “right to be forgotten.” Indexeus is EU-based.

Notwithstanding the extortion claim this sort of search engine and database could be very valuable to law enforcement and private security experts as a way to solving criminal hacking cases and to more quickly identify and address security problems and vulnerabilities.


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About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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