--- title: This Month in Data Leaks | August 2025 OpenVPN description: "What happened this month: Google’s breach, spilled Tea, and other August highlights (plus: how to avoid them)" image: https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/Blog%20Single%20Large%20copy.png --- - [Blog](https://blog.openvpn.net) - [Industry News](https://blog.openvpn.net/tag/industry-news) # This Month in Data Leaks: Google’s Breach, Spilled Tea, and Other August Highlights (Plus: How to Avoid Them) Aug 25, 2025 • 4 min read ![](https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/Blog%20Single%20Large%20copy.png) Share - - - - This Month in Data Leaks | August 2025 OpenVPN 13:16 By Heather Walters ## It's been quite the summer. From CRM leaks to airline passenger data turbulence, this past month delivered a steady stream of reminders that cybersecurity is still very much a team sport — and sometimes, one with surprising fumbles. Whether the issue was a misconfigured third-party platform or an overly casual approach to app development, the common thread is clear: access control and visibility matter more than ever. Here’s a breakdown of what went wrong, what it means for your business, and how to avoid starring in next month’s breach roundup. ### 🚨 Google’s Salesforce Database got hit by ShinyHunters What happened: [Hackers breached a Salesforce CRM database used by Google](https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/06/google-says-hackers-stole-its-customers-data-in-a-breach-of-its-salesforce-database/), gaining access to internal sales data tied to small and medium businesses. This includes contact info, deal notes, and a fresh reminder that storing everything in one place can go very wrong. The cause: A third-party platform (Salesforce) with access to sensitive internal data. Likely no network segmentation or Zero Trust guardrails around that data. Your move: - Apply Zero Trust access controls to SaaS platforms. - Isolate sensitive systems with private routing. - Audit third-party integrations — and monitor them like you would your own infrastructure. ### 🫣 Tea App spills... everything What happened: The “Tea” app — where users anonymously review men — [accidentally leaked](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/02/nx-s1-5483886/tea-app-breach-hacked-whisper-networks) driver’s licenses, selfies, and private messages. That data quickly showed up on 4chan and X. So much for anonymity. The cause: A poorly secured storage bucket. Possibly rushed development (“vibe coding,” in the app’s own words). Definitely a lack of secure-by-design thinking. Your move: - Avoid the “ship fast, fix security later” mindset. - Store PII behind encrypted, access-controlled systems. - Vet vendors and tools — especially AI-powered apps that move fast and break trust. ### 🧑‍💻 PBS leaks internal employee info — via Discord What happened: Personal info for nearly 4,000 PBS employees [was leaked on a Discord server](https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/pbs-reveals-data-breach-after-company-info-leaked-on-discord) tied to “PBS Kids.” Names, job titles, emails, departments, and supervisors — all now in the wild. The cause: Informal comms platforms + sensitive info = bad combo. Likely no DLP or monitoring for internal data exposure. Your move: - Don’t treat Discord (or Slack, or Teams) as a secure vault. - Lock down internal data with access policies that follow people, not just devices. - Monitor traffic for accidental exfiltration — it’s not always malicious. ### ✈️ Air France & KLM customer data takes off What happened: A breach in a third-party customer service platform exposed names, emails, contact details, and frequent flyer data for 6 million Air France and KLM passengers. No passwords or credit card info, but still a heavy hit to customer trust. The cause: A vulnerable vendor. Third-party integration without proper segmentation or risk modeling. Your move: - Treat third-party platforms as external — because they are. - Use layered security: private access, device posture checks, and identity-based policies. - Don’t assume your vendors are doing it right. ### 🎥 Venice Film Festival gets hacked — stars (and staff) affected What happened: Participant and journalist data from the Venice Film Festival was leaked. Not the worst breach on this list, but still: red carpet, meet red flags. The cause: No official details, but the takeaway is clear — any organization handling personal data is a target. Your move: - Build privacy-first processes, even if you’re not a traditional “tech company.” - Publish a breach response plan before you need it. - Segment access to personal data with context-aware rules. ## 🧩 What these breaches have in common - Over-trusted systems and platforms - Lack of visibility into third-party risks - Weak or missing segmentation and access controls Sound familiar? These are the exact problems Zero Trust was built to solve — and the kind of thing OpenVPN users can actively guard against using our tools. ## 🛡️ How OpenVPN helps you avoid being on this list - Secure remote access that keeps sensitive systems off the public internet. - CloudConnexa® can enforce identity, location, and device-based access controls. - Private routing and segmentation so even if one app gets hit, the rest don’t go down with it. - Easy integrations with the platforms you already use — but with the security those platforms sometimes forget to include. ## TL;DR You don’t need a massive budget or an AI-driven threat detection machine to avoid ending up in a breach roundup. You just need:   - Strong access controls - Isolation of critical systems - A healthy suspicion of your vendors - And ideally, a VPN solution that knows how to evolve with the threat landscape   We happen to know a good one. [![Get Started](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/43411546/86be8315-bc8b-41cd-8936-66cf4d6bf0e7.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/43411546/86be8315-bc8b-41cd-8936-66cf4d6bf0e7) [Heather Walters](https://blog.openvpn.net/author/heather-walters) Heather is a writer for OpenVPN. ## Related posts from OpenVPN ### [![LastPass Vulnerability](https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/social-suggested-images/simon-abrams-k_T9Zj3SE8k-unsplash%20(1).jpg) Cybersecurity Nov 8, 2019 LastPass Vulnerability](https://blog.openvpn.net/lastpass-vulnerability/) ### [![Secure Your OpenClaw AI Gateway with Access Server](https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/social-suggested-images/4%20(2)-2.png) Cybersecurity Mar 26, 2026 Secure Your OpenClaw AI Gateway with Access Server](https://blog.openvpn.net/secure-your-openclaw-ai-gateway-with-access-server) ### [![This Week in Cybersecurity: AI Hacks AI](https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/social-suggested-images/3%20(4).png) Cybersecurity Nov 21, 2025 This Week in Cybersecurity: AI Hacks AI](https://blog.openvpn.net/this-week-in-cybersecurity-ai-hacks-ai) ### Subscribe for Blog Updates ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Heather Walters", "url" : "https://blog.openvpn.net/author/heather-walters" }, "dateModified" : "2025-08-29T07:24:37.036Z", "datePublished" : "2025-08-25T18:51:13.000Z", "headline" : "This Month in Data Leaks | August 2025 OpenVPN", "image" : [ "https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/Blog%20Single%20Large%20copy.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.openvpn.net/data-leaks-august-2025", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.openvpn.net/hubfs/Dark=True%20Medium.png" }, "name" : "OpenVPN" } } ```