Government developer leaves database credentials on an old blog post potentially causing the largest data hack in history

pcgamer.com:

The private data for 1 billion Chinese citizens was briefly put up for sale on a hacking forum, which would represent the largest leak of personal data in history. The post offering the database for sale seems to have been removed from the Breach Forum pages, which could either suggest that it was completely bogus or dangerously true.

The files were allegedly retrieved from the Shanghai National Police archive and, as well as containing the personal information of 1 billion residents, it also contained several billion individual case files.

According to the original post, archived by HotHardware(opens in new tab), the data included those individuals' names, addresses, birthdays, ID numbers, details of any criminal activity, and their phone numbers. 

That last is important potential evidence of the veracity of the data on offer. Two Wall Street Journal(opens in new tab) writers, Karen Hao and Rachel Liang, spent time calling around Chinese nationals listed in a download sample of 750,000 records that the hacker put up on the forum as proof. The journalists downloaded the sample and called a bunch of the phone numbers expecting them to be fake.

«We are all running naked,» said one of the victims when called and confronted with the leak of his personal data; a popular slang phrase used in China for a noted lack of privacy.

Of the dozens they called «nine picked up and confirmed exactly what the data said,» writes Hao on Twitter.

A hacker is selling an alleged 1 billion Chinese citizens' information stolen from Shanghai police. @rachelliang5602 & I downloaded the sample the hacker provided and called dozens of people listed. Nine picked up & confirmed exactly what the data said. https://t.co/X0VhJaWjvbJuly 4, 2022

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