China: Hackers Show Data On 1 Billion Chinese After Leak

Hackers claim to have obtained data on 1 billion Chinese from a Shanghai police database in a leak that could be one of the largest data breaches in history.

Aljazeera on Wednesday reports that in a post on the online hacking forum Breach Forums, someone using the handle “ChinaDan” offered to sell nearly 24 terabytes (24 TB) of data, including what they claimed was information on 1 billion people and several billion case records for 10 Bitcoins, worth about $200,000.

The data purportedly includes information from the Shanghai National Police database including names, addresses, national identification numbers and mobile phone numbers, as well as case details.

Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at cybersecurity firm Sophos, said that the breach is potentially incredibly embarrassing to the Chinese government, and the political harm would probably outweigh damage to the people whose data was leaked.

“When you’re talking about a billion people’s information and it’s static information, it’s not about where they traveled, who they communicated with or what they were doing, then it becomes very much less interesting.

“The information, once it’s unleashed, is forever out there.

"So if someone believes their information was part of this attack, they have to assume it is forever available to anyone and they should be taking precautions to protect themselves.”