Data of 130 million Chinese hotel clients being sold on Dark Web for 8 Bitcoins

The media reports that the data of around 130 million clients of the Huazhu Hotels Group in China is being sold at the Dark Web, for 8 bitcoins, which is around 56,000 USD. This price is considered very low having in mind the big amount of data that is being offered. The data for sale contains ID card numbers, phone numbers, bank accounts, login and passwords, check-in and departure times, hotel room numbers, room IDs, card numbers, and email addresses, as well as website registration information, check-in registration information, and booking information. The database is roughly 141.5 GB and contains 240 million records of 130 million clients. Shanghai police, who is currently investigating the case, released a statement confirming that they will ‘crack down any illegal information transactions’. The police also called for companies to strengthen their data protection. An initial investigation by Zibao cybersecurity group shows that the data might have been hacked in early August when the hotel’s programmers uploaded information to the GitHub.  Huazhu Group also started their self-inspection and has hired a tech company to verify the source of the information that is being sold online.