Over 1 billion Chinese phone numbers and IMEI numbers have allegedly been leaked, according to CyberKnow. IMEI stands for “International Mobile Equipment Identity.” It’s a unique number for identifying a device on a mobile network. A user named ‘papito’ leaked the phone numbers and IMEI numbers on Breach Forums on Wednesday, 21st September 2022.
A similar case came in July where hackers claimed to have obtained a trove of data on 1 billion Chinese people from a Shanghai police database in a leak that, if confirmed, could be one of the largest data breaches in history.
In a post on the online hacking forum Breach Forums, someone going by the handle “ChinaDan” offered to sell nearly 24 terabytes (24 TB) of data, including “information on 1 billion people” and “several billion case records,” for 10 Bitcoins, or about $200,000. The data leak sparked debate on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo at first, but censors have since blocked keyword searches for “Shanghai data leak.”
