Multiple reports have indicated that a hacker has claimed to discover a stockpile of personal information. The Shanghai police information includes the personal information of around one billion Chinese citizens. Experts believe that it will become the biggest data breach in history if the report is true. Last week, an unknown internet user (identified as China Dan) posted on a tech forum Breach Forums with offers.
He was offering to sell at least 23TB (terabytes) of data for 10 bitcoin (equivalent to $200,000). Keep in mind that the database of SHGA (Shanghai National Police) was leaked in 2022. The stolen database contains a large amount of information and important data related to Billions of Chinese citizens. The leaked database contains the personal information of 1 billion Chinese national residents.
Hacked Data Includes Several Billion Case Records
The stolen information also includes several billion case records. It contains the name, address, mobile number, birthplace, national ID number, and details of all crimes or cases. However, various news outlets were unable to authenticate the originality of the post. The government of Shanghai and the police department haven’t yet disclosed any official statement regarding the story.
The post was massively discussed on Chinese WeChat and Weibo social platforms over the weekend and many users found it worrying. However, Weibo also blocked the dataleak hashtag on Sunday afternoon. Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China’s tech policy research head, Kendra Schaefer showed her concern. She said it was too difficult to discover the truth from the rumor factory.
It Would Become the Biggest & Terrible Breaches in History
Schaefer said it could become a major concern if the information was hacked from the Ministry of Public Security. It would undoubtedly be among the biggest and most terrible breaches in history. CEO of Binance, Zhao Chang Peng said the company had empowered user verification processes in the cryptocurrency exchange operations.
Chang Peng also said intelligence detected threats for the sale of records related to 1 billion residents of an Asian country. He posted on Twitter that a leak supposedly happened due to an error in a government agency’s Elastic Search deployment. The hacking claim came as China has affirmed improving the protection of data privacy for online users.
Twitter and YouTube Accounts of the British Army are Restored
The country has instructed its tech giants to confirm safer data storage. This statement came after public complaints related to mismanagement or misuse of their personal information. However, the Chinese government passed new rules and regulations last year. These new laws instruct the handling of personal information and data generated within its territory.
Meanwhile, Twitter and YouTube accounts of the British Army are now restored after the discovery of a hack. On Sunday, July 3, the British Army retrieved control of its YouTube and Twitter accounts. These accounts were massively hacked and used to post regarding non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrencies.
The British Army Twitter Account has 362,000 Followers
A post on the @BritishArmy Twitter found apologies for the interim interruption to their feed. The officials will conduct a full investigation related to this recently reported hack incident. The YouTube account of the British Army was reportedly renamed Ark Invest. It also showed various videos related to cryptocurrency but has now been restored to its original form.
The point to be noted is that its Twitter feed currently sustains around 362,000 followers. The YouTube channel of the British Army has at least 177,000 subscribers. Keep in mind that Ark Invest is a global investment firm and its name was used in this hack. However, the agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.