‘Leaksmas’ report calls digital ID ‘primary focus’ of hackers

A U.S. cybersecurity firm analyzing come-ons from dark web entities advertising free stolen personal data says digital ID information is a “primary focus” for criminals.

In what is being referred to so cleverly as “leaksmas,” dark web inhabitations began issuing large plumes of stolen personally identifiable data – 50 million records – much of it free for the taking, over the holidays.

The company, Resecurity, published a report last week saying that it’s clear that cybercriminals are most focused on stealing digital identity information. The motivation for the apparent clearance sale is the short expiration date on some purloined credit-account data.

Researchers for the firm found that a 22-million dataset stolen from a Peruvian telco included national IDs, referred to as DNIs.

According to Resecurity, the DNI is particularly central to citizens’ lives. It reportedly is the only ID document that the government recognizes for use in judicial, administrative, commercial and civil transactions.

If the breach results in enough trouble, the researchers say, the government might finalize digital ID protection programs.

The nations most represented in the giveaway are, from biggest on down, Peru, the Philippines, the U.S., France and Vietnam.

Article Topics

access control  |  cybersecurity  |  data privacy  |  digital ID  |  national ID