The addresses and telephone numbers of potentially millions of Dutch people have fallen into the wrong hands. The data was stolen from a company that offers ICT services to garages. This has emerged from research by the NOS.
In addition to so-called name and address data (name, address and place of residence), according to the NOS, it would concern e-mail addresses, license plates, telephone numbers and dates of birth. The data is offered for sale on a hacker forum. “The leak was at the company RDC, which, for example, offers garages the option of automatically e-mailing customers when it is time for an MOT. This allows criminals to see exactly where expensive cars are.
The exact number of people affected by the leak is unknown. According to the hacker who offers the data for sale, it concerns traceable data of 7.3 million people, but the same people can appear in the data breach several times. The e-mail address would be present in 2.5 million cases. It is as yet unknown how the data was stolen. After NOS informed the company that data was being put up for sale, it launched an investigation and recognized the stolen data. “The investigation is still in full swing. We have already reported to the Dutch Data Protection Authority”, a spokesperson for RDC told NOS.