Dutch hacker obtained virtually all Austrians' personal data, police say
VIENNA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A Dutch hacker arrested in November obtained and offered for sale the full name, address and date of birth of virtually everyone in Austria, the Alpine nation's police said on Wednesday.
A user believed to be 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, police said in a statement, adding that investigators had confirmed its authenticity.
The trove comprised close to nine million sets of data, police said. Austria's population is roughly 9.1 million. The hacker had also put "similar data sets" from Italy, the Netherlands and Colombia up for sale, Austrian police said, adding that they did not have further details.
The Austrian information is so-called registration data - basic information including a current address that residents are required to provide to the authorities.
