A hacker, identified simply as “ChinaDan,” claimed to have stolen data from one billion Chinese citizens from the Shanghai police. ChinaDan posted on hacker forum Breach Forums last week, offering to sell the more than 23 terabytes (TB) of data for 10 Bitcoin.
While the authenticity of the data theft has not yet been confirmed, experts say it would become one of the biggest data breaches in history if true.
“In 2022, the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database was leaked. This database contains many TB data and information on billions of Chinese citizens. Databases contain information on 1 billion Chinese citizens and several billion records, including: name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime / case details,” the post said.
Kendra Schaefer, head of technology policy research at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, said it was “hard to parse truth from rumor mill.”
Schaefer said it was bad for “a number of reasons” if the alleged material in the hacker’s possession came from the Ministry of Public Security.
“Most obviously it would be among biggest and worst breaches in history,” she said.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.