New Delhi: A hacker in China has allegedly hacked into the database of millions of Chinese citizens. The hacker claims that he is in possession of data of millions of people. The hacker has laid out the data for sale most probably on the Dark Web.
Here is how the hacker authenticates the claim
In a bid to authenticate his claim the hacker has posted the personal data of around 750,000 individuals which include vital information like name of the citizens, their cell phone numbers, national ID numbers, their addresses, their date of birth and even the police complaints filed by them.
Some of this information has been individually verified by AFP and cyber security experts but they say it is impossible to individually verify the entire database.
The data is for sale for 10 bitcoins
The hacker has claimed that the size of the entire database is 23 terabytes, and it contains records of approximately 100 crore citizens of China. This data is for sale for 10 bitcoins or $ 200,000.
China has a history of surveillance
China has had a history of harboring data of its citizens for the sake of surveillance. The reason Chinese authorities give when they are caught in the act is ‘security concerns. Growing public awareness of data privacy has led to stronger data protection laws targeting individuals and private firms in recent years, although citizens can do little to stop the government from collecting their data.
If this is proved and more importantly accepted by the Chinese authorities this will be seen as one of the largest breach in the history of recently implemented Chinese data-security.
There is no official statement from the concerned Chinese authority member either in acceptance or in denial of these claims.
