The anonymous internet user, identified as “ChinaDan”, posted on hacker forum Breach Forums last week offering to sell the more than 23 terabytes (TB) of data for 10 bitcoin, equivalent to about $200,000.
“In 2022, the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database was leaked. This database contains many TB of data and information on Billions of Chinese citizen,” the post said.
“Databases contain information on 1 Billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including: name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.”
Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the post.
The Shanghai government and police department did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Reuters was also unable to reach the self-proclaimed hacker, ChinaDan, but the post was widely discussed on China’s Weibo and WeChat social media platforms over the weekend with many users worried it could be real.
The hashtag “data leak” was blocked on Weibo by Sunday afternoon.
Kendra Schaefer, head of tech policy research at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, said in a post on Twitter it was “hard to parse truth from rumour mill”.
If the material the hacker claimed to have came from the Ministry of Public Security, it would be bad for “a number of reasons”, Schaefer said.
“Most obviously it would be among biggest and worst breaches in history,” she said.
Zhao Changpeng, CEO of Binance , said on Monday the cryptocurrency exchange had stepped up user verification processes after the exchange’s threat intelligence detected the sale of records belonging to 1 billion residents of an Asian country on the dark web.
He said on Twitter that a leak could have happened due to “a bug in an Elastic Search deployment by a (government) agency”, without saying if he was referring to the Shanghai police case. He did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The claim of a hack comes as China has vowed to improve protection of online user data privacy, instructing its tech giants to ensure safer storage after public complaints about mismanagement and misuse.
Last year, China passed new laws governing how personal information and data generated within its borders should be handled.
- Classic Ferrari worth over $2 million stolen on test drive
- Police Scotland crackdown will seize cars from uninsured drivers
- Olympic Athletes’ Feud Goes Public, With Claims of Hotel Theft and Gym Attack
- This New Florida Bill Would Make It Illegal to Have Your Car Stolen
- PIAM: Motor insurance growth tapered in 2016, but claims remain high at RM13.8 million per day
- Surprise! Spyker Sues GM For $3 Billion Over Saab Bankruptcy
- PIAM – RM4.1 billion paid out in road accident claims
- Toyota Vellfire is Malaysia’s most frequently stolen car
- Mo Farah camp deny claims he attacked couple in gym
- Faraday Future Claims It Rustled Up $1 Billion in Funding and a New CEO
- Police launch month-long crackdown on uninsured drivers
- Jaguar Land Rover Predicts $1.5 Billion Loss if Brexit Passes
Hacker claims to have stolen 1 billion records of Chinese citizens from police have 509 words, post on ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com at July 5, 2022. This is cached page on VietNam Breaking News. If you want remove this page, please contact us.
