Personal Information of Nearly 50 Million Turkish Citizens Leaked Online

A massive database allegedly containing the personal information of more than 49 million Turkish citizens has been published online. The leaked data was reportedly found to contain names, addresses, national identifier numbers and dates of birth, among other personally identifiable information. Published anonymously at http://185.100.87.84/, the website also includes torrent and magnet links to download the 6.9GB database (uncompressed, 1.44GB compressed) using peer-to-peer tools. According to The Register, the move appears to have been politically motivated, aimed against the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose personal information is displayed on the site, along with that of Turkey’s current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. A statement on the top of the page reads:

“Who would have imagined that backwards ideologies, cronyism and rising religious extremism in Turkey would lead to a crumbling and vulnerable technical infrastructure?”

The source of the information is yet unknown. However, according to several sources, the data itself may not be new. Carl Gottlieb, Technical Director and Co-Founder of security solutions provider Cognition, explained in a blog post the most recent birth date in the dump is March 29, 1991, suggesting the “new leak” could be the resurfacing of an old database that was originally stolen back in 2008. Nonetheless, Turkish citizens potentially listed are advised to monitor their credit activities closely and be “extra vigilant with their Internet hygiene,” says Gottlieb. “Crucially, the data does contain enough information to conduct ID theft and fraud on a targeted individual,” Gottlieb warned. Source: Softpedia