The latest traffic fine leak leaves a million of us exposed

25 May 2018 - 08:46
By Petru Saal
Data leaks are a huge risk to the public according to a cyber security expert.
Image: 123RF/Weerapat Kiatdumrong Cyber security Data leaks are a huge risk to the public according to a cyber security expert.

A data leak that revealed the personal records of nearly a million South Africans who registered to pay fines online exposes them to fraud‚ identity theft and a host of other nasty surprises.

The leak was confirmed by Australian cyber security researcher Troy Hunt along with Tefo Mohapi from iAfrikan and contains 934 000 records containing identity numbers‚ e-mail addresses‚ full names‚ cellphone numbers‚ number of outstanding fines and passwords.

It was traced back to an online traffic fine payments website for motorists in South Africa.

Jabu Mtsweni‚ a cyber security expert from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)‚ said data breaches posed a huge threat to the public.

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