A report published in ‘The Register’ states that information related to Britain’s gun enthusiasts was leaked in a sophisticated cyber attack targeted a few weeks ago leading to the exposure of sensitive details such as home addresses, contact details and names of over 111,295 people holding license to own and operate a gun.
National Crime Agency officials have been assigned the task to investigate the incident that took place on the servers of ‘Gun Trader’ platform which has reportedly kept a record of the details of all transactions that took place in the last 18 months or so.
What’s even more concerning about the breach is the fact that hackers stole a data file that holds digital location map information about those who own a gun and those who purchased a weapon from their platform.
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation is urging all gun owners to monitor their home security as the data breach could allow hackers to sell their data to those who could later use the info to blackmail them over unlawful hunting activities and by criminals desiring weapons.
Highly placed sources from Gun Trader claim that the service provider has taken a note of the incident and has shut down the backdoor that led to the leak of information of those who own guns. The firm also denied some media claims that hackers accessed a file containing the location of firearms and the owner’s details, unlike what was said by an online media resource in July this year.
Gun Trader is working with authorities to mitigate the risks associated with the data steal and a special investigation team from the South West Regional Cyber Crime Unit was asked to investigate and submit a report on this issue.
