Personal Information of Six Million Chileans Posted Online

A hacker in Chile posted personal details about six million Chileans online. According to reports in the Chilean media, the hacker, known as 'Anonymous Coward' hacked into government and military servers and stole data including ID card numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, emails and academic records. He then posted the information on a Chilean technology blog before the owners of the site contacted authorities and removed the links. The Chilean newspaper El Mercurio reported that the hacker had committed the offence in order "to demonstrate how poorly protected data in Chile is."

"Chile may seem far away to many computer users, but the scale of this data breach should not be ignored," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "No matter how moral or ethical the hacker's motives, this prank was irresponsible and has left almost 40 percent of Chile's population at risk of identity theft. Organizations around the world need to take this issue seriously and defend against these risks. The consequences of falling victim to such an attack can be much more far reaching than a simple fine, including irreversible damage to your reputation and customer confidence."

Experts note that while the scale of the Chilean breach was much smaller than the HMRC debacle last year (details of 25 million UK families were lost in this instance), the fact that the information was posted online, however briefly, increases the risks of identity fraud.