A server administrator, during a routine security audit, discovers that a set of internal product design documents has been uploaded to a public software repository. The documents contain sensitive, proprietary information. The source of the leak is currently unknown. Which of the following data security risks does this situation BEST describe?
The correct answer is Unwanted publication. This term refers to the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or private information to the public, which is exactly what happened in the scenario with the proprietary documents being uploaded to a public repository.
Data corruption is incorrect because it involves errors that alter the original data, making it unusable or incorrect, not its disclosure. The scenario describes the data being exposed, not altered.
An insider threat is a potential cause of unwanted publication, but it is not the risk event itself. Since the source of the leak is unknown, classifying it as an insider threat would be an assumption. The immediate, confirmed risk is the publication of the data.
Hardware failure is incorrect as this risk pertains to the malfunction of physical server components, which typically leads to data loss or unavailability, not unauthorized public access.