Personal data of users on 1111 job bank leaked on overseas forum

Taipei, July 19 (CNA) Taiwan job bank 1111 confirmed Friday that the personal data of its online members was hacked and leaked to a foreign-based hacker forum, and the case is now being investigated by local authorities.

Henry Ho (何啟聖), vice president of 1111 job bank, said the scope of the personal data leakage has yet to be determined, but he indicated the company was working with authorities to get to the bottom of the matter.

According to an online thread on RaidForums, a hacker with the pseudonym "tomholland" openly declared having some 200,000 pieces of user data hacked from 1111 job bank, with personal information containing user ID, name, birthday, email, phone number and address.

In the thread, which appeared Thursday, another poster even provided a sample of the leaked information with a screenshot that showed the personal data of some members of 1111 job bank.

RaidForums is a foreign-based forum that has been popularly described online as a malicious site that spreads private information, where hackers actively post leaks and distribute information stolen from databases for personal gain.

It requires registration or payment to access hidden data.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) handling the case said the investigation is ongoing.

Ho emphasized, meanwhile, that the company will take responsibility for the attack and compensate those who were affected by the data leak.

The job bank said it has liability insurance to handle the claims of the site's members.