Hackers Offer Data On 1B Chinese After Alleged Leak

Hackers claim to have obtained a trove of data on 1 billion Chinese from a Shanghai police database in a leak that, if confirmed, could be one of the largest data breaches in history.

In a post on the online hacking forum Breach Forums last week, someone using the handle ‘ChinaDan’ offered to sell nearly 24 terabytes (24 TB) of data, including what they claimed was information on 1 billion people and ‘several billion case records’ for 10 Bitcoins, worth about $200,000.

The data purportedly includes information from the Shanghai National Police database including names, addresses, national identification numbers and mobile phone numbers, as well as case details.

A sample of data seen by The Associated Press news agency listed names, birthdates, ages and mobile numbers. One person was listed as having been born in ‘2020,’ with their age listed as ‘1,’ suggesting that information on minors was included in the data obtained in the breach.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the data samples. Shanghai police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The data leak initially sparked discussion on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo, but censors have since moved to block keyword searches for ‘Shanghai data leak’.