Data leak exposes over 1.2 billion records of Chinese users

The research team of the online platform Cybernews discovered an actor compiling a database comprised of data of Chinese users, which includes a compilation of personal data exceeding 1.2 billion records. The researchers report that the mysterious entity behind this leak exposed a plethora of sensitive information, ranging from phone numbers to addresses and ID card numbers, to the internet.

While much of the data originates from past public breaches, the compilation also incorporates private and previously undisclosed datasets.

This revelation marks the second-largest leak this year, where the earlier leak exposed 26 billion records. Hosted in a German data centre, the leak’s dashboard interface for viewing the data was set to Simplified Chinese, hinting at the potential Chinese origin of the administrator.

In the past, similar massive data leaks were reported affecting Chinese individuals. In 2022, threat actors claimed to have infiltrated the Shanghai police, stealing data on one billion Chinese citizens.

While attribution remains elusive, the Cybernews team underscores the urgency of addressing this breach to mitigate potential harm to affected users.