Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Hacker Claims To Have 23 Terabytes Of Chinese Citizens' Data, Puts It Up For Sale For 10 Bitcoins

Published 22/07/2022, 15:16
Updated 22/07/2022, 16:13
© Reuters.  Hacker Claims To Have 23 Terabytes Of Chinese Citizens' Data, Puts It Up For Sale For 10 Bitcoins

© Reuters. Hacker Claims To Have 23 Terabytes Of Chinese Citizens' Data, Puts It Up For Sale For 10 Bitcoins

An unidentified computer hacker going by the alias ChinaDan, claims to have penetrated the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) computer system and stolen a massive database that includes Chinese citizens’ personal information.

What happened: ChinaDan posted on Breach Forum on the dark seeking for people willing to buy what he claims is 23 terabytes worth of data that could be valuable to intelligence agencies. The cost: 10 Bitcoins (CRYPTO: BTC) with a value of approximately $210,000 at time of writing.

According to ChinaDan, the database contained key information such as names, mobile phone numbers, national ID numbers, birthplaces and ages of about 1 billion Chinese citizens.

“In 2022, the Shanghai National Police database was leaked. This database contains many terabytes of data and information on billions of Chinese citizens,” the hacker’s post on the forum says.

According to CNN, a sample of more than two dozen of the 750,000 data entries from the database were verified as legitimate. CNN, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal called some of the phone numbers listed in the database, and the people they called confirmed personal details found in the files.

Two days after the post was shared, the moderator of the forum shared a thread telling its Chinese users the data was no longer available and any posts related to the topic had been deleted.

No Chinese government officials have responded to ChinaDan’s claim, but at a recent State Council meeting, Premier Li Keqiang, a prominent politician, stressed the need for the Chinese government to protect information.

Chinese government bodies must “defend information security … to protect personal information, privacy and confidential corporate information” so people can feel secure when submitting data for certain public services, says a statement summarizing the meeting.

The statement did not disclose specific security issues or data breaches, but some people believe it could be addressing the recent data leak.

The data breach came just a few months after a cache of police records from the Xinjiang region was leaked to media outlets by researcher Adrian Zenz. The records contain over 5,000 photos and documents of the Chinese government targeting people of Uyghurs ethnic origin for their race and Islamic faith.

Why it matters: The data leak could cause serious national security risks for the nation, according to an article published by Cybernews. “The availability of personal information on a large chunk of China’s population could cause long-term problems such as identity theft and targeted phishing attacks, affecting millions of people,” the article said.

According to BlackCloak CEO Chris Pierson, the leaked criminal records could also expose individuals to a range of risks, including harassment, extortion and retribution.

Featured photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pixabay

© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Read the original article on Benzinga

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.