Hack involved the data of a nation’s entire population

By Trevor Mogg January 26, 2023

Hackers are well known to nab customer data held by companies, but obtaining the personal data of pretty much all of the residents of a single nation in one fell swoop takes the nefarious practice to a whole new level.

The remarkable feat was allegedly performed by a 25-year-old Dutch hacker who, when arrested by police, had in his possession personal data linked to pretty much every resident of Austria — about nine million people.

Related Videos

The suspect was actually arrested in November, Reuters reported, but Austrian police only revealed details of the case this week to protect its long-running investigation.

Nine million data sets linked to Austrian residents were offered for sale on an online forum in May 2020. The data included the full name, gender, complete address, and date of birth “of presumably every citizen,” the police said.

According to Reuters, the information is what’s known as “registration data,” which residents of Austria are required to give to the authorities. The alleged hacker obtained the data after exploiting a glitch at a Viennese IT company that had temporary access to the information, local media reported.

The accused was apparently also trying to sell similar data sets linked to the populations of Italy, the Netherlands, and Colombia, though it’s not clear how many residents in each of these countries were caught up in the hacks.

Police arrested the suspect in an apartment in Amsterdam. According to reports, he is already known to international police and is currently being investigated by the Dutch authorities.

“Since this data was freely available on the internet, it must absolutely be assumed that these registration data are, in full or in part, irrevocably in the hands of criminals,” Austrian police said.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Tech News

Computing

A beginner’s guide to Tor: How to navigate the underground internet

A person using a laptop at a desk.

While the internet has dramatically expanded the ability to share knowledge, it has also made issues of privacy more complicated. Many people are justifiably worried about their personal information being stolen or viewed, including bank records, credit card info, and browser or login history.

If you're looking for more privacy while browsing, Tor is a good way to do that, as it is software that allows users to browse the web anonymously. It should be noted that Tor can be used to access illegal content on the dark web, and Digital Trends does not condone or encourage this behavior.
Why does Tor exist?
In this climate of data gathering and privacy concerns, the Tor browser has become the subject of discussion and notoriety. Like many underground phenomena on the internet, it is poorly understood and shrouded in the sort of technological mysticism that people often ascribe to things like hacking or Bitcoin.

Computing

Experts fear ChatGPT will soon be used in devastating cyberattacks

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm in recent months, but just as it has amazed people with its technical capabilities, concerns have also been raised over its potential misuse. Now, it seems some IT leaders are worried it will soon be used in major cyberattacks, with the potential to cause devastation in the future.

In a survey of 1,500 IT and cybersecurity professionals conducted by BlackBerry, 51% of respondents believed that ChatGPT will be responsible for a successful cyberattack in the next 12 months. As much as 78% feel that attack will happen within two years, while a handful think it could happen within the next few months.

Computing

Hackers dug deep in the massive LastPass security breach

The cybersecurity breach that LastPass owner GoTo reported in November 2022 keeps getting worse as new details are revealed, calling into question the company's transparency on this serious issue.

It has been two months since GoTo shared the alarming news that hackers stole the usernames, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, and even billing information of LastPass users. In GoTo's latest blog update, the company reported that several of its other products were compromised as well.