40,000 Job Seekers’ Personal Details in S’pore Leaked After Hackers Hacked an Employment Agency

Typically, when someone hacks you, their intention is to expose some sort of wrongdoing on your part, get back at you for something, or ask for something in return.

I have the names and details of all your pet kittens, so I expect thousands to be transferred to my bank account by tonight.

But, as you know, criminals often have odd motives for breaking the law.

In this hacking case, for instance, the hackers illegally retrieved the data of over 40,000 people, so they could ask the victim to “think carefully”.

I think you’re the one who should have done that, to be honest.

40,000 Job Seekers’ Personal Details in S’pore Leaked After Hackers Hacked an Employment Agency

Protemps Employment Services is not doing too well at the moment.

Earlier this month, it discovered that its entire server had been hacked and deleted by hackers.

As a result, the personal details of 40,000 job seekers who had submitted job applications to the company had been leaked online.

These personal details include:

  • scans of identity cards or passports
  • phone numbers
  • salaries
  • jobs
  • home addresses

The group of hackers, Desorden Group, not only revealed themselves online but boasted about their haul on hacking forums on 7 Oct. The breach allegedly took place on 4 Oct.

In addition to a video showing the stolen files and databases, the group of hackers shared a message they had sent to the employment agency, informing them that all their files had been “stolen”.

Here’s what the message said:

“Today is 4th October. This is Desorden Group. We have hacked and breached your server. We have stolen all files and databases from protemps.com.sg.server. We have securely deleted all of the files and databases. We have 40,000 of your job applicants, along with their personal data and also their identity card or passport images. Think carefully”.

Now, if the group had issued an ultimatum, then the “think carefully” warning might have made sense. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher.

In any case, Desorden Group made the stolen database accessible online on 14 Oct for just S$3.30. The database has been accessed by at least 60 entities since then.

Protemps Investigating Incident 

Protemps has reportedly notified the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) of the breach and is currently investigating the incident.

It seems that this isn’t Desorden Group’s first heist, as it has targeted other organisations in the past, particularly those in the supply chains field.

It typically demands a ransom after illegally retrieving data and sells the data on the black market if their victims fail to cough up the money.

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Featured Image: Desorden Group