The personal information of what is thought to be the entire population of Austria was posted in virtual world by a digital hacker, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing Austrian police. The full name, address, and date of birth of almost everyone in Austria were collected by the 25-year-old Dutch criminal who was apprehended in November and were then made available for sale.
The hacker offered the data for sale in an online forum in May 2020, presenting it as "the full name, gender, complete address, and date of birth of presumably every citizen" in Austria, the police said in a statement, adding that investigators had confirmed its authenticity.
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According to the police, the cache contained around nine million different data sets. The Austrian police stated that they did not have any additional information and added that the hacker had also put "similar data sets" from Italy, the Netherlands, and Colombia up for sale.
The Austrian information is so-called registration data-basic information, including a current address, that residents are required to provide to the authorities.
"Since this data was freely available on the Internet, it must absolutely be assumed that these registration data are, in full or in part, irrevocably in the hands of criminals," the police said, adding that unknown people were believed to have paid for the data.
The 25-year-old suspect arrested in an Amsterdam apartment was known to international police and is under investigation by the Dutch police and judicial authorities, Austrian police said. A spokesman added that the statement was only published now so as not to hinder those investigations.
The police did not elaborate on the consequences for Austrians' data security.
(With inputs from Reuters)
