Security firm: Data breach exposes millions of Ecuadorians
Posted Sep 16, 2019 06:39:22 PM.
QUITO, Ecuador — A cyber security firm says it discovered a serious flaw in a computer server that exposed the personal data of millions of Ecuadorians.
Researchers at vpnMentor say the unsecured server held information on over 20 million individuals, including details like names, birth dates and telephone numbers.
The firm says most of the individuals reside in Ecuador, a nation of just over 17 million people, meaning nearly everyone could have been exposed.
It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone had wrongfully accessed the data. According to vpnMentor, the flaw was closed Wednesday.
Ecuadorian Interior Minister María Paula Romo calls the breach “very serious” and says investigators will work to identify those responsible.
President Lenin Moreno says he will push through legislation aimed at ensuring stricter data security standards.
The Associated Press
