Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
(Photo: CNN)

In a major data breach on Monday, data of about every citizen has been leaked. The data was stored in an unsecured server based in Miami, Florida. According to the office of the State Attorney General in Ecuador, data of around 20 million people might be affected which includes data of 7 million which are of minors and deceased individuals.

The data breach was uncovered during a routine project conducted by vpnMentor security researchers along with a ZDNet reporter. The ethical hackers managed to expose the vulnerability of the system and suspected a data breach as well.

Novaestrat, an Ecuadorian firm owns the affected server. The extent of the breach can be noticed as a total of 20.6 million data was available in the 18 GB server. According to the World Population Review, Ecuador has a population of 17 million people.

Data of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange was also seen available in the data as reported by vpnMentor. Assange had sought asylum in the embassy of Ecuador in London and stayed there before he was arrested by London Police. His asylum had been revoked after a fallout with the Ecuadorian government.

The data is said to have consisted of details like name, date of birth, sex, date of death, national identification numbers, taxpayer registration numbers etc. Julian Assange also was issued an identification card when he had sought asylum.

According to the office of the State Attorney General, the legal representative of Novaestrat William Roberto G had his house raided by the police. The statement said, “During the raid, electronic equipment, computers and storage devices were seized, as well as documentation, among other elements.”

The data breach has now managed to pose a security threat to the citizens. It would expose them to scams and spams or even cases of identity theft. Data protection has been a major concern over the past few years. Especially after people have been exposed to the variety of threats that a breach in data can do.

During the 2016 US Elections and Brexit Referendum, a company called Cambridge Analytica had harvested the data that it had collected from various sites without consent. The subsequent data was used for political advertising influencing the voter base.

The data can be used to spam or start phishing attacks which would be a serious breach of privacy. It can expose the people to a financial scam with bank details which can be accessed as it was present in the data.

The telecommunications ministry said in a statement that, “We as Government and by the provision of President Moreno, in a term not exceeding 72 hours, we will issue the Law on Protection of Personal Data that we have been working for 8 months”

Data breaches have been a serious concern in the 21st century and the level of exposure that it can cause is massive. Many countries have started shifting their focus in a data protection law. The countries which already have a data protection law are looking to strengthen it.

(Inputs from agencies)

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