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Hacker claims to have stolen 1 billion records of Chinese citizens from police

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2 years ago

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  • If true, it would be one of the biggest data breaches in history.
  • Anonymous internet user offers to sell more than 23 TB of data for $200,000.
  • Claim of hack comes as China has vows to improve protection of online user data privacy.

SHANGHAI: A hacker has claimed to have procured a trove of personal information from the Shanghai police on one billion Chinese citizens, which tech experts say, if true, would be one of the biggest data breaches in history.

The anonymous internet user, identified as “ChinaDan”, posted on the hacker forum Breach Forums last week offering to sell more than 23 terabytes (TB) of data for 10 bitcoin, equivalent to about $200,000.

“In 2022, the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database was leaked. This database contains many TB of data and information on Billions of Chinese citizens,” the post said.

“Databases contain information on 1 Billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.”

Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the post.

The Shanghai government and police department did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Reuters was also unable to reach the self-proclaimed hacker, ChinaDan, but the post was widely discussed on China’s Weibo and WeChat social media platforms over the weekend with many users worried it could be real.

The hashtag “data leak” was blocked on Weibo by Sunday afternoon.

Kendra Schaefer, head of tech policy research at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, said in a post on Twitter it was “hard to parse truth from rumour mill”.

If the material the hacker claimed to have come from the Ministry of Public Security, it would be bad for “a number of reasons”, Schaefer said.

“Most obviously it would be among the biggest and worst breaches in history,” she said.

Zhao Changpeng, CEO of Binance, said on Monday the cryptocurrency exchange had stepped up user verification processes after the exchange’s threat intelligence detected the sale of records belonging to 1 billion residents of an Asian country on the dark web.

He said on Twitter that a leak could have happened due to “a bug in an Elastic Search deployment by a (government) agency”, without saying if he was referring to the Shanghai police case.

He posted again on Twitter later in the day, saying: “apparently, this exploit happened because the gov developer wrote a tech blog on CSDN and accidentally included the credentials”, referring to the China Software Developer Network.

Software company Elastic said it was incorrect to cite it as the source of the breach. The Shanghai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

The claim of a hack comes as China has vowed to improve the protection of online user data privacy, instructing its tech giants to ensure safer storage after public complaints about mismanagement and misuse.

Last year, China passed new laws governing how personal information and data generated within its borders should be handled.

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As of today, the F-8 Underpass is now open to traffic. Naqvi

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2 days ago

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According to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, traffic will begin to flow through the F-8 Exchange Underpass today.

During his inspection visit to the F-8 Exchange Interchange and Serena Interchange Projects in Islamabad, the minister made the statement.

According to him, the F-8 Exchange Chowk Interchange Project is still being worked on nonstop.

Serena Chowk Interchange will be opened in January, according to Mohsin Naqvi, and the construction will be finished in 60 days.

He said any kind of hindrance to the projects should be removed and projects be completed on time at all costs.

He said with the completion of the projects, citizens’ traffic woes will end.
The minister also ordered protection of trees during construction of projects.

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An event for medical training is being held at CMH Peshawar, and Major General Masood is distributing awards.

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2 days ago

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Romina Khurshid Alam, the Coordinator of the Prime Minister’s Office, underlined the significance of gender-inclusive climate resilience during her presentation on climate change. This was done in light of the fact that Pakistan is seeing a worsening of the consequences of climate change.

When Alam was having a conversation with a group of people from the Green Tech Hub at NUST and UN-Women, he brought up the idea that women who live in rural regions are particularly vulnerable, but that they are also quite important in the process of creating solutions that are sustainable.

It was discussed by the delegation that the Green Tech Hub, which was formed in October at NUST, should be enlarged in order to foster innovation in the disciplines of climate adaptation and renewable energy. This was done in order to encourage innovation in these domains. For the purpose of bolstering the initiative, Romina Alam has committed to give assistance in the search of collecting funds and collaborations.

The necessity of providing women with the knowledge and tools necessary to create resilience was emphasized by Romina Alam, who also called for climate strategies that are inclusive and take into account the specific issues that women face and the potential that they have to take on leadership roles.

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Climate-related challenges are growing in Pakistan, and the prime minister’s climate aide is advocating for gender-inclusive climate resilience.

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2 days ago

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During her presentation on climate change, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Romina Khurshid Alam emphasized the importance of gender-inclusive climate resilience in light of the fact that Pakistan is experiencing a worsening of the effects of climate change.

Alam brought up the fact that women living in rural areas are especially vulnerable, but they are also vital to finding sustainable solutions during a discussion with a team from the Green Tech Hub at NUST and UN-Women.

It was discussed by the delegation that the Green Tech Hub, which was established in October at NUST, should be expanded in order to encourage innovation in the fields of climate adaptation and renewable energy. In order to bolster the project, Romina Alam has committed to providing help in the pursuit of acquiring financing and collaborations.

The necessity of providing women with the knowledge and tools necessary to create resilience was emphasized by Romina Alam, who also called for climate strategies that are inclusive and take into account the specific issues that women face and the potential that they have to take on leadership roles.

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