According to Austrian authorities, a Dutch hacker who was apprehended in November amassed and made available for sale practically everyone’s full name, address, and date of birth.
According to a statement from the police, the data was put up for sale in an online forum in May 2020 by a user who was thought to be the hacker. The individual claimed to have “the whole name, gender, complete address, and date of birth of presumably every resident” in Austria.
According to investigators, the cache contained around nine million different data sets.
The police stated that it must be considered that the registration data are, in whole or in part, irrevocably in the hands of criminals because the information was freely available on the Internet, and that it is likely that unidentified people paid for the information.
The 25-year-old suspect was known to international law enforcement, and the Dutch police and judicial authorities are currently looking into him, according to Austrian police.
According to a spokeswoman, the statement was only made public today so as not to obstruct ongoing inquiries.
Regarding the effects on the data security of Austrians, the police gave no further details.