Thousands of stolen passports and other sensitive documents belonging to Dutch citizens have been found on the dark web. The documents were stolen in ransomware attacks on Dutch companies over the past year.
According to RTL Nieuws, a Dutch news magazine, over 5,100 digitally copied passports, ID cards, bank statements, pay slips, divorce records and more have been discovered for sale on shady dark web marketplaces.
Ransomware is malicious piece of software that encrypts victim’s files until a ransom is paid to the hackers. When the victim companies refused to pay up the ransom, the hackers retaliated by releasing the stolen sensitive data and documents onto the dark web’s underworld.
RTL Nieuws spoke to victims and the majority did not know that their sensitive data and documents are on the dark web. They now fear that their identity will sooner or later be misused by criminals.
According to RTL, the Dutch Data Protection Authority is taking action, investigating companies that fail to properly inform people about data breaches. This is a positive step towards holding businesses accountable and protecting consumers.
