This report examines how metadata in publicly available PDFs and Office documents can be exploited for attack reconnaissance. UpGuard’s research analyzed Fortune 500 organizations to understand the size and nature of their public document exposure. Findings show that the digital document attack surface is large and primarily composed of PDF files. Many documents fail to follow metadata best practices, with author fields often revealing unnecessary details about individuals and organizations. These insights highlight how overlooked metadata can provide attackers with valuable information for planning cyber attacks.

Join for free to read