Hotznplotzn

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50394868

The exposed Elasticsearch cluster, which contained over 160 indices, held billions of primarily Chinese records, ranging from national citizen ID numbers to various business records. The massive leak is among the largest single Elasticsearch exposures ever recorded.

Archived

• Cybernews researchers discovered 8.7 billion exposed Chinese records on an unsecured Elasticsearch cluster, one of history's largest data leaks.
• The leaked data includes national ID numbers, home addresses, plaintext passwords, and social media identifiers, creating severe identity theft risks.
• The exposed database remained publicly accessible for over three weeks before being closed, giving attackers ample time to scrape data.
• Researchers believe the dataset was intentionally aggregated on bulletproof hosting, suggesting data broker activity or malicious intent.

[...]

According to the team, the exposed data aggregates personal identifiers, contact information, government-style identifiers, online account references, and credentials at an unprecedented scale.

The geographic distribution of the leaked records is limited, predominantly focusing on mainland China, with regional metadata spanning multiple Chinese provinces and cities.

[...]

Personally Identifiable Information (PII):

• Full names
• Mobile phone numbers
• National ID numbers
• Home addresses
• Date and place of birth
• Gender and demographic attributes

Account and platform data:

• Messaging and social media identifiers
• Email addresses
• Usernames
• Platform-specific account references

Authentication data:

• Plaintext and weakly protected passwords in multiple datasets

Corporate and Business Records:

• Company registration details
• Legal representatives
• Business contact information
• Registration addresses and licensing metadata

Largest Chinese data leak: What are its implications?

Even though the 8.7 billion-record-strong dataset is no longer accessible, it was open for over three weeks, giving malicious actors ample time to scrape it. Our researchers believe attackers could utilize the data for multiple purposes.

For one, the exposed records included plaintext credentials, some with poorly protected passwords. This type of data is extremely useful for account takeovers, with cybercriminals accessing additional user details. Password information enables cybercrooks to carry out credential stuffing attacks, as users often reuse the same passwords for multiple accounts.

Another major risk for individuals is identity theft. Since the dataset included tremendous amounts of PII, together with national identifiers, malicious actors may attempt to set up fraudulent accounts. ID numbers are often the key metric that organizations and businesses demand upon setting up accounts.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50394868

The exposed Elasticsearch cluster, which contained over 160 indices, held billions of primarily Chinese records, ranging from national citizen ID numbers to various business records. The massive leak is among the largest single Elasticsearch exposures ever recorded.

Archived

• Cybernews researchers discovered 8.7 billion exposed Chinese records on an unsecured Elasticsearch cluster, one of history's largest data leaks.
• The leaked data includes national ID numbers, home addresses, plaintext passwords, and social media identifiers, creating severe identity theft risks.
• The exposed database remained publicly accessible for over three weeks before being closed, giving attackers ample time to scrape data.
• Researchers believe the dataset was intentionally aggregated on bulletproof hosting, suggesting data broker activity or malicious intent.

[...]

According to the team, the exposed data aggregates personal identifiers, contact information, government-style identifiers, online account references, and credentials at an unprecedented scale.

The geographic distribution of the leaked records is limited, predominantly focusing on mainland China, with regional metadata spanning multiple Chinese provinces and cities.

[...]

Personally Identifiable Information (PII):

• Full names
• Mobile phone numbers
• National ID numbers
• Home addresses
• Date and place of birth
• Gender and demographic attributes

Account and platform data:

• Messaging and social media identifiers
• Email addresses
• Usernames
• Platform-specific account references

Authentication data:

• Plaintext and weakly protected passwords in multiple datasets

Corporate and Business Records:

• Company registration details
• Legal representatives
• Business contact information
• Registration addresses and licensing metadata

Largest Chinese data leak: What are its implications?

Even though the 8.7 billion-record-strong dataset is no longer accessible, it was open for over three weeks, giving malicious actors ample time to scrape it. Our researchers believe attackers could utilize the data for multiple purposes.

For one, the exposed records included plaintext credentials, some with poorly protected passwords. This type of data is extremely useful for account takeovers, with cybercriminals accessing additional user details. Password information enables cybercrooks to carry out credential stuffing attacks, as users often reuse the same passwords for multiple accounts.

Another major risk for individuals is identity theft. Since the dataset included tremendous amounts of PII, together with national identifiers, malicious actors may attempt to set up fraudulent accounts. ID numbers are often the key metric that organizations and businesses demand upon setting up accounts.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50394868

The exposed Elasticsearch cluster, which contained over 160 indices, held billions of primarily Chinese records, ranging from national citizen ID numbers to various business records. The massive leak is among the largest single Elasticsearch exposures ever recorded.

Archived

• Cybernews researchers discovered 8.7 billion exposed Chinese records on an unsecured Elasticsearch cluster, one of history's largest data leaks.
• The leaked data includes national ID numbers, home addresses, plaintext passwords, and social media identifiers, creating severe identity theft risks.
• The exposed database remained publicly accessible for over three weeks before being closed, giving attackers ample time to scrape data.
• Researchers believe the dataset was intentionally aggregated on bulletproof hosting, suggesting data broker activity or malicious intent.

[...]

According to the team, the exposed data aggregates personal identifiers, contact information, government-style identifiers, online account references, and credentials at an unprecedented scale.

The geographic distribution of the leaked records is limited, predominantly focusing on mainland China, with regional metadata spanning multiple Chinese provinces and cities.

[...]

Personally Identifiable Information (PII):

• Full names
• Mobile phone numbers
• National ID numbers
• Home addresses
• Date and place of birth
• Gender and demographic attributes

Account and platform data:

• Messaging and social media identifiers
• Email addresses
• Usernames
• Platform-specific account references

Authentication data:

• Plaintext and weakly protected passwords in multiple datasets

Corporate and Business Records:

• Company registration details
• Legal representatives
• Business contact information
• Registration addresses and licensing metadata

Largest Chinese data leak: What are its implications?

Even though the 8.7 billion-record-strong dataset is no longer accessible, it was open for over three weeks, giving malicious actors ample time to scrape it. Our researchers believe attackers could utilize the data for multiple purposes.

For one, the exposed records included plaintext credentials, some with poorly protected passwords. This type of data is extremely useful for account takeovers, with cybercriminals accessing additional user details. Password information enables cybercrooks to carry out credential stuffing attacks, as users often reuse the same passwords for multiple accounts.

Another major risk for individuals is identity theft. Since the dataset included tremendous amounts of PII, together with national identifiers, malicious actors may attempt to set up fraudulent accounts. ID numbers are often the key metric that organizations and businesses demand upon setting up accounts.

[...]

The exposed Elasticsearch cluster, which contained over 160 indices, held billions of primarily Chinese records, ranging from national citizen ID numbers to various business records. The massive leak is among the largest single Elasticsearch exposures ever recorded.

Archived

• Cybernews researchers discovered 8.7 billion exposed Chinese records on an unsecured Elasticsearch cluster, one of history's largest data leaks.
• The leaked data includes national ID numbers, home addresses, plaintext passwords, and social media identifiers, creating severe identity theft risks.
• The exposed database remained publicly accessible for over three weeks before being closed, giving attackers ample time to scrape data.
• Researchers believe the dataset was intentionally aggregated on bulletproof hosting, suggesting data broker activity or malicious intent.

[...]

According to the team, the exposed data aggregates personal identifiers, contact information, government-style identifiers, online account references, and credentials at an unprecedented scale.

The geographic distribution of the leaked records is limited, predominantly focusing on mainland China, with regional metadata spanning multiple Chinese provinces and cities.

[...]

Personally Identifiable Information (PII):

• Full names
• Mobile phone numbers
• National ID numbers
• Home addresses
• Date and place of birth
• Gender and demographic attributes

Account and platform data:

• Messaging and social media identifiers
• Email addresses
• Usernames
• Platform-specific account references

Authentication data:

• Plaintext and weakly protected passwords in multiple datasets

Corporate and Business Records:

• Company registration details
• Legal representatives
• Business contact information
• Registration addresses and licensing metadata

Largest Chinese data leak: What are its implications?

Even though the 8.7 billion-record-strong dataset is no longer accessible, it was open for over three weeks, giving malicious actors ample time to scrape it. Our researchers believe attackers could utilize the data for multiple purposes.

For one, the exposed records included plaintext credentials, some with poorly protected passwords. This type of data is extremely useful for account takeovers, with cybercriminals accessing additional user details. Password information enables cybercrooks to carry out credential stuffing attacks, as users often reuse the same passwords for multiple accounts.

Another major risk for individuals is identity theft. Since the dataset included tremendous amounts of PII, together with national identifiers, malicious actors may attempt to set up fraudulent accounts. ID numbers are often the key metric that organizations and businesses demand upon setting up accounts.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50369424

Archived

Russia’s occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ has sentenced 56-year-old Volodymyr Perzhynsky to over 12 years’ maximum-security imprisonment just days after the same illegitimate body passed an ever harsher, 15-year sentence against Volodymyr’s 25-year-old son, Mark Perzhynsky. Everything about this family persecution, from the initial abduction of father and son to Volodymyr Perzhynsky’s videoed ‘confession’ and two sentences passed without any evidence of real trials, is ominously reminiscent of countless other cases where Russia’s FSB have claimed to have ‘thwarted’ Ukrainian saboteurs.

[...]

Volodymyr Perzhynsky, who is from Bratske, in Melitopol raion, is a prominent farmer, while his son was well-known as a professional weightlifter. Although most of the aspects of their ‘case’ have been seen before, the eye-watering amounts that both father and son were ordered to pay in supposed ‘compensation’, as well as in fines, only increase the suspicion that they were targeted in retaliation for Volodymyr Perzhynsky’s refusal to collaborate with the Russian occupiers. According to the Ukrainian publication RIA-South, all local farmers came under huge pressure from the invaders, were forced to hand over their grain for a pittance, were threatened at gunpoint and often subjected to abductions and fabrication of criminal charges.

[...]

Judging by the dates, it seems likely that both men were abducted around November 2023, with nothing to indicate how long they were held incommunicado, without any formal status, before being charged. It is particularly during such periods where a person is denied any contact with independent lawyers or family, that detainees are subjected to illegal forms of duress, including torture, in order to fabricate ‘evidence’.

56-year-old Volodymyr Perzhynsky was sentenced to 12 years and 5 months of maximum-security imprisonment, with the first four years in a prison, the harshest of Russian penal institutions.

Mark Perzhynsky (25) received a 15-year maximum-security sentence, also with the first four years in a prison.

The illegal occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ also imposed one million roubles fines against both father and son and ordered confiscation of money to cover supposed ‘damages’ claimed to reach 17.6 million rouble ‘damages’.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50369053

Archived

[...]

A growing number of Russians are complaining about the rising cost of living, saying that increases in everything from utilities to food and alcohol are putting mounting strain on their wallets.

Social media has been flooded in recent weeks with videos showing shoppers comparing current prices with those of last year.

[...]

State statistics agency Rosstat says inflation stood at 5.6% at the end of 2025, while average prices for goods and services rose 4.2% in 2025.

The Central Bank has said that average wages are outpacing these increases, rising by 15% in 2025 and exceeding 100,000 rubles ($1,306) per month in 19 regions.

But there is a wide gap between these official figures and people’s lived experiences. A survey by the Public Opinion Foundation conducted for the Central Bank said perceived inflation — a measurement of how ordinary Russians experience rising prices — now stands at 14.5%.

[...]

Yelizaveta, a mother of several children from Moscow who heads a department at a Russian company, said she has recently switched to strict budgeting and started choosing the cheapest options when shopping for her family in response to the increasing prices.

“I’ve become more attentive to discounts,” Yelizaveta, 42, told The Moscow Times, adding that she now shops at the Pyaterochka grocery chain instead of the more expensive Perekrestok.

“There are certain products I just can’t give up, but apart from those exceptions, I look at the price first,” she said, adding that her family of five spends around 10,000 rubles ($130) a week on groceries.

Yelizaveta said she has stopped using beauty salons altogether and that paying for her children’s educational and extracurricular activities has become “almost impossible.”

[...]

Economist Vladislav Zhukovsky said public-sector workers and pensioners were particularly affected because wages, pensions and social benefits are indexed to the official inflation rate rather than the real inflation rate.

[...]

Rosstat data shows that items like lemons and coffee saw steep price rises in 2025, with per-kilogram prices up 31.8% and 25.8% respectively. Rents increased 22.1%.

[...]

Prices spiked in early January, when consumer prices rose 1.26% between Jan. 1 and 12. That is more than six times the increase recorded in the final tracked week of December, when Rosstat reported that consumer price growth had slowed to 0.2%.

[...]

According to Rosstat data, the largest price increases last month were seen in fruits and vegetables like cucumbers (34.4%), tomatoes (19.4%), potatoes (10.3%), carrots (8.3%) and cabbage (7.6%).

The anti-war economic project Prices Today reported that cucumbers recorded the sharpest increase of any product last month, rising 23.5%. Only seven of 108 product categories tracked by the project saw prices fall in January, including semolina flour, buckwheat, pearl barley, millet, peas, salt and sugar.

As ordinary Russians have taken to the internet to decry the price increases since the new year, officials have moved to downplay the concerns.

[...]

Meanwhile, the Credit Bank of Moscow posts a rare loss as bad loans surge.

Credit Bank of Moscow (MKB), Russia’s seventh-largest bank by assets and holder of around 700 billion rubles ($9.1 billion) in household deposits, reported a net loss of 9 billion rubles ($117 million) in the fourth quarter of 2025, Interfax reported, citing the bank’s financial statements.

Archived

Russia’s occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ has sentenced 56-year-old Volodymyr Perzhynsky to over 12 years’ maximum-security imprisonment just days after the same illegitimate body passed an ever harsher, 15-year sentence against Volodymyr’s 25-year-old son, Mark Perzhynsky. Everything about this family persecution, from the initial abduction of father and son to Volodymyr Perzhynsky’s videoed ‘confession’ and two sentences passed without any evidence of real trials, is ominously reminiscent of countless other cases where Russia’s FSB have claimed to have ‘thwarted’ Ukrainian saboteurs.

[...]

Volodymyr Perzhynsky, who is from Bratske, in Melitopol raion, is a prominent farmer, while his son was well-known as a professional weightlifter. Although most of the aspects of their ‘case’ have been seen before, the eye-watering amounts that both father and son were ordered to pay in supposed ‘compensation’, as well as in fines, only increase the suspicion that they were targeted in retaliation for Volodymyr Perzhynsky’s refusal to collaborate with the Russian occupiers. According to the Ukrainian publication RIA-South, all local farmers came under huge pressure from the invaders, were forced to hand over their grain for a pittance, were threatened at gunpoint and often subjected to abductions and fabrication of criminal charges.

[...]

Judging by the dates, it seems likely that both men were abducted around November 2023, with nothing to indicate how long they were held incommunicado, without any formal status, before being charged. It is particularly during such periods where a person is denied any contact with independent lawyers or family, that detainees are subjected to illegal forms of duress, including torture, in order to fabricate ‘evidence’.

56-year-old Volodymyr Perzhynsky was sentenced to 12 years and 5 months of maximum-security imprisonment, with the first four years in a prison, the harshest of Russian penal institutions.

Mark Perzhynsky (25) received a 15-year maximum-security sentence, also with the first four years in a prison.

The illegal occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ also imposed one million roubles fines against both father and son and ordered confiscation of money to cover supposed ‘damages’ claimed to reach 17.6 million rouble ‘damages’.

Archived

[...]

A growing number of Russians are complaining about the rising cost of living, saying that increases in everything from utilities to food and alcohol are putting mounting strain on their wallets.

Social media has been flooded in recent weeks with videos showing shoppers comparing current prices with those of last year.

[...]

State statistics agency Rosstat says inflation stood at 5.6% at the end of 2025, while average prices for goods and services rose 4.2% in 2025.

The Central Bank has said that average wages are outpacing these increases, rising by 15% in 2025 and exceeding 100,000 rubles ($1,306) per month in 19 regions.

But there is a wide gap between these official figures and people’s lived experiences. A survey by the Public Opinion Foundation conducted for the Central Bank said perceived inflation — a measurement of how ordinary Russians experience rising prices — now stands at 14.5%.

[...]

Yelizaveta, a mother of several children from Moscow who heads a department at a Russian company, said she has recently switched to strict budgeting and started choosing the cheapest options when shopping for her family in response to the increasing prices.

“I’ve become more attentive to discounts,” Yelizaveta, 42, told The Moscow Times, adding that she now shops at the Pyaterochka grocery chain instead of the more expensive Perekrestok.

“There are certain products I just can’t give up, but apart from those exceptions, I look at the price first,” she said, adding that her family of five spends around 10,000 rubles ($130) a week on groceries.

Yelizaveta said she has stopped using beauty salons altogether and that paying for her children’s educational and extracurricular activities has become “almost impossible.”

[...]

Economist Vladislav Zhukovsky said public-sector workers and pensioners were particularly affected because wages, pensions and social benefits are indexed to the official inflation rate rather than the real inflation rate.

[...]

Rosstat data shows that items like lemons and coffee saw steep price rises in 2025, with per-kilogram prices up 31.8% and 25.8% respectively. Rents increased 22.1%.

[...]

Prices spiked in early January, when consumer prices rose 1.26% between Jan. 1 and 12. That is more than six times the increase recorded in the final tracked week of December, when Rosstat reported that consumer price growth had slowed to 0.2%.

[...]

According to Rosstat data, the largest price increases last month were seen in fruits and vegetables like cucumbers (34.4%), tomatoes (19.4%), potatoes (10.3%), carrots (8.3%) and cabbage (7.6%).

The anti-war economic project Prices Today reported that cucumbers recorded the sharpest increase of any product last month, rising 23.5%. Only seven of 108 product categories tracked by the project saw prices fall in January, including semolina flour, buckwheat, pearl barley, millet, peas, salt and sugar.

As ordinary Russians have taken to the internet to decry the price increases since the new year, officials have moved to downplay the concerns.

[...]

Meanwhile, the Credit Bank of Moscow posts a rare loss as bad loans surge.

Credit Bank of Moscow (MKB), Russia’s seventh-largest bank by assets and holder of around 700 billion rubles ($9.1 billion) in household deposits, reported a net loss of 9 billion rubles ($117 million) in the fourth quarter of 2025, Interfax reported, citing the bank’s financial statements.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50366933

Two Chinese nationals suspected of trying to intercept satellite communications from a base in an Airbnb rental property in southwestern France have been placed under formal investigation, the Paris public prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Police were first alerted last week when locals noticed that a roughly two-metre-wide satellite dish being installed at the property in Gironde, which coincided with an internet outage, the office said.

[...]

The two Chinese nationals, and two other people, were arrested and brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday and were formally placed under investigation.

[...]

The case is the latest in a series of incidents involving allegations of Chinese spying in Europe.

Tensions between Beijing and Western powers over espionage have risen in recent years as Western intelligence agencies increasingly sound the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity. China has consistently denied the allegations. China has also alleged hacking operations by Western countries.

[...]

The judicial investigation will focus on alleged offences including the unlawful disclosure of sensitive information to foreign entities, potentially harming national interests, and the organised theft of data from an automated processing system.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50366642

Archived

The officer, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, served in a critical communications and electronic systems role within the Air Force. Initial reports indicate the leaked data pertained to sensitive NATO-related intelligence, though officials have emphasized that the recipient was not neighboring Turkey, with whom Greece maintains strained relations. Instead, sources point to China as the beneficiary.

[...]

This incident is not isolated. It follows a pattern of confirmed Chinese espionage activities targeting Greek military assets. In July 2025, four Chinese nationals were detained near Tanagra Air Base for photographing Hellenic Rafale fighter jets and nearby facilities operated by the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI). The group, which included a minor and posed as tourists, was found with extensive multimedia evidence of the base's operations. Greek authorities launched a thorough investigation to determine if this was part of a broader intelligence-gathering campaign, raising alarms about Beijing's interest in advanced European military technologies.

[...]

Beyond espionage, tensions extend to maritime domains. The Hellenic Navy has been actively engaged in the Red Sea as part of the EU's Operation Aspides, countering threats from Yemen's Houthi rebels amid disruptions to global shipping lanes. While direct confrontations with Chinese forces have not been reported, analysts note China's growing naval presence in the region, including incidents like a Chinese warship allegedly using a laser against a German surveillance aircraft in July 2025. Furthermore, accusations have surfaced that Chinese satellite technology may be aiding Houthi attacks, which have targeted Greek-owned vessels, exacerbating perceptions of indirect clashes with Chinese expansionism.

[...]

Economic dimensions add another layer to this multifaceted rivalry. China's state-owned COSCO Shipping holds a 67% stake in the Port of Piraeus, transforming it into a key hub for the Belt and Road Initiative. However, this investment has drawn scrutiny from the United States, which blacklisted COSCO in January 2025 over alleged ties to China's military.

[...]

Greek courts have also intervened, blocking COSCO's expansion plans in 2022 due to environmental concerns, reflecting domestic resistance to unchecked foreign influence.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50366933

Two Chinese nationals suspected of trying to intercept satellite communications from a base in an Airbnb rental property in southwestern France have been placed under formal investigation, the Paris public prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Police were first alerted last week when locals noticed that a roughly two-metre-wide satellite dish being installed at the property in Gironde, which coincided with an internet outage, the office said.

[...]

The two Chinese nationals, and two other people, were arrested and brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday and were formally placed under investigation.

[...]

The case is the latest in a series of incidents involving allegations of Chinese spying in Europe.

Tensions between Beijing and Western powers over espionage have risen in recent years as Western intelligence agencies increasingly sound the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity. China has consistently denied the allegations. China has also alleged hacking operations by Western countries.

[...]

The judicial investigation will focus on alleged offences including the unlawful disclosure of sensitive information to foreign entities, potentially harming national interests, and the organised theft of data from an automated processing system.

[...]

Two Chinese nationals suspected of trying to intercept satellite communications from a base in an Airbnb rental property in southwestern France have been placed under formal investigation, the Paris public prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Police were first alerted last week when locals noticed that a roughly two-metre-wide satellite dish being installed at the property in Gironde, which coincided with an internet outage, the office said.

[...]

The two Chinese nationals, and two other people, were arrested and brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday and were formally placed under investigation.

[...]

The case is the latest in a series of incidents involving allegations of Chinese spying in Europe.

Tensions between Beijing and Western powers over espionage have risen in recent years as Western intelligence agencies increasingly sound the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity. China has consistently denied the allegations. China has also alleged hacking operations by Western countries.

[...]

The judicial investigation will focus on alleged offences including the unlawful disclosure of sensitive information to foreign entities, potentially harming national interests, and the organised theft of data from an automated processing system.

[...]