Earlier this week, a Chinese government developer released a blog post regarding the China Software Developer Network. The post accidentally included the credentials to the system in which the data is stored, leading to a breach and subsequently 23 terabytes of personal data for sale on the dark web. A Chinese tech CEO has cited human error as the reason why the hackers were able to obtain the personal data of 1 billion individuals. The credentials allowed access to a Shanghai police database on which the details of those associated with the organization were stored.
Zhao Changpeng, a Chinese tech CEO, posted screenshots of the offending code to his Twitter account. In addition, he provided updates regarding the situation including that his company’s threat intelligence team had already detected 1 billion Chinese resident records posted for sale on the dark web. Due to the breach, Binance has increased protections in its user verification processes to ensure that its current and future customers are not subject to identity fraud or other scams. Last Tuesday, news outlets reported on the incident and attributed the leak to a hacking group or individual who goes by the username ChinaDan. The data is currently listed for sale at roughly $200,000, and includes addresses, names, birthplaces, national IDs, phone numbers, and criminal case information.
Read More: Human Error Blamed for Leak of 1 Billion Records of Chinese Citizens