NetProspex, a B2B marketing database service operated by Dun & Bradstreet, exposed 33.7 million professional records when the data leaked online in 2016. The company did not suffer a direct system breach. Instead, Dun & Bradstreet concluded that a customer who had purchased the dataset lost control of it, allowing the records to circulate publicly. The individuals in the database had no direct relationship with NetProspex; their contact information had been aggregated from various sources and packaged as a commercial marketing asset. The exposed records included names, email addresses, job titles, employer names, phone numbers, and physical addresses, all organized specifically for outbound business targeting. That structure is what makes the exposure particularly useful to bad actors. A dataset pre-sorted by employer, role, and contact details provides ready-made material for spearphishing campaigns, executive impersonation, and business-focused fraud at scale. No formal notifications were issued to affected individuals, which is consistent with how B2B data brokers operate: the people whose information is sold are third parties, not customers, and are generally outside the scope of standard breach notification obligations. For those whose records appeared in the dataset, the practical risk is ongoing. The data remains well-suited to targeted phishing and social engineering attacks, particularly those crafted to appear as legitimate business communications.

Marketing data brokers aggregate business contact records, job titles, company profiles, emails, and phone numbers into lead-intelligence products for B2B targeting.

NetProspex has been absorbed into Dun & Bradstreet's broader data and analytics product suite and no longer operates as a distinct standalone brand. D&B has continued to expand its B2B data and intelligence services.