Towards the end of 2016, an archive containing 10 .txt files was made public on the dark web. On a forum called Anti Public, a 17 gigabyte data breach was uploaded. This data breach, confirmed by Var Group, contains over 13 million email domains and 450 million emails and passwords. From unique individuals to companies and institutions, the data breach leaked classified information. This includes legal and military documents.
The cyber-attack originated towards the end of 2016. It was recent that the information began spreading like wildfire. As of May 2017, the archived post has been circulating hundreds of private and closed forums on the dark web. It’s been scattering via a sketchy Russian platform. One can only wonder who has gotten their hands on these delicate documents. Cyber attacks have been hitting the front pages a lot recently. Is this data breach the beginning of another online threat?
Yarix, a computer security company in Italy, began investigation earlier this month. They confirmed the credentials of the data breach. The hacker group behind the attack remains unknown. Mirko Gatto, CEO of Yarix, had this to say on the subject:
“The glimpse of the domains in Anti Public reveals and confirms the extent of the vulnerability we are living in: from the White House to the entire military and academic system in Italy, we have the exact picture of our fragility that feeds on a still-widespread security culture. From the more structured organizations to the everyday life of individual individuals, it is imperative that we all change our behaviors in the light of the awareness that crime computing is able to harm at all levels.”
Victims of the worldwide data breach include:
Italy
- Forces of the Order and Police
- Firefighters
- Armed forces
- Ministries
- Metropolitan Cities
- Hospitals
- Universities
Worldwide
- White House
- US Armed Forces
- Europol
- Eurojust
- European Parliament
- European Council