Over 280,000 personal ID photos were found in the hands of a hacker, following a cyberattack on Estonia's state information system, on July 23.The hacker is reportedly a resident of Tallinn.
The attacker had already obtained names and ID numbers and then managed to obtain photosby making individual requests from thousands of IP addresses. This data was, however, not enough for the attacker to gain access to e-state services, meaning that the normal means of authentication (ID card, mobile ID and SMART ID) have not been compromised.
A database of the Estonian Information Authority (RIA) containing photographs of documents has been breached.
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Speaking at a press conference today, Oskar Gross, head of the central cybercrime office, said the following: “The data obtained by the hacker has been seized by the police.”
RIA chief Margus Noormaa, who also appeared at the press conference, said that the attack in question did not appear to have a clear and serious reason for happening. Specifically, he said the following: “The compromised photos were accidental – there was no other purpose than to obtain them.”
These, a total of 286,438, had been downloaded en masse from 9,000 different IP addresses – domestic and foreign – using malware network and fake digital certification and by exploiting a vulnerability, Noormaa said, adding that the digitally stored photos were the only data the hacker was able to obtain – no database had been breached.
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The data obtained by the hacker – namely photos, identity numbers and owners' names, was not sufficient to gain access to any of Estonia's e-state services, said Noormaa, adding that all individuals whose data were breached in this way will be notified via the state portal.
Estonia's Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT, Andres Sutt, called the incident a "clear attack on the Estonian state.
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In particular, he stated the following: “Cybercrime is increasing and this means that we must continuously invest in cybersecurity at both the public and private levels.” He also added that he intends to raise this issue and its possible funding at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting.
«I will accelerate the replacement of some older systems and data solutions. We have begun laying the foundations for basic IT infrastructure and support, which in turn will strengthen cybersecurity.»
