Cybercriminals threaten to leak all 5 million records from stolen database of high-risk individuals
The World-Check database used by businesses to verify the trustworthiness of users has fallen into the hands of cybercriminals.
The Register was contacted by a member of the GhostR group on Thursday, claiming responsibility for the theft. The authenticity of the claims was later verified by a spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), which maintains the database.
A spokesperson said the breach was genuine, but occurred at an unnamed third party, and work is underway to further protect data.
"This was not a security breach of LSEG/our systems," said an LSEG spokesperson. "The incident involves a third party's data set, which includes a copy of the World-Check data file.
"This was illegally obtained from the third party's system. We are liaising with the affected third party, to ensure our data is protected and ensuring that any appropriate authorities are notified."
The World-Check database aggregates information on undesirables such as terrorists, money launderers, dodgy politicians, and the like. It's used by companies during Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, especially by banks and other financial institutions to verify their clients are who they claim to be.
