Photos of nearly one hundred thousand travelers have leaked at American customs, writes The Register on Tuesday. The leak occurred after a cyber attack.
The leaked images contain photos of faces and license plates. These are photos taken during roadside border controls, authorities of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announce in a statement. It is not known whether photographs are taken at and around airports.
The photos were made for a month and a half. They were leaked in the event of a cyber attack on a CBP subcontractor. Which company that is has not been disclosed. According to authorities, only photos were stolen and no personal data, such as passport data.
The leak was discovered on 31 May and according to the Dutch DPA the stolen information has not yet been found on the internet or the dark web. It is not known who is behind the hack.
The Dutch DPA says it is investigating the work of the subcontractor. “CBP takes responsibility in the field of privacy and cyber security very seriously and demands the same from third parties”, a statement states.