6.5m Israel Voters Suffer from Security Breach

In breaking news, approximately 6.5 million voters in Israel suffered from a massive data breach. The source of the security incident reportedly stems from a Likud Party cyber error, states The Jerusalem Post.

The Likud Party blunder resulted in accidentally uploading the voter registry onto an application called Elector. According to Fast Company, the website which promoted the said app had a vulnerability. Individuals who visited the website may view the source code using only a few clicks.

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The source code supposedly contained usernames and passwords of administrators handling the website. Upon logging in using the admin’s credentials, individuals could gain unauthorized access and mine the database containing the entire voter registry of Israel.

Israel Voters Security Breach

Among the compromised information exposed to the public were full names, addresses, and identity card numbers reveal Fast Company. There were also phone numbers vulnerable as a result of the said incident.

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The Times of Israel also revealed that the sex and the voter responses of the 6.5 million voting-age population were vulnerable.

In a statement, founder of Shin Bet cyber department Harel Menashri said the event was “an embarrassment in terms of how bad it is. The real personal information of every citizen above the age of 18” had been compromised.

Furthermore, the incident also left Menashri in disbelief, saying, “many parties, like foreign intelligence agencies, may have access to top officials of the Likud Party, to the head of the Shin Bet, the head of the Mossad and others. There are also many private companies who want the information.”

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Following the incident, Elector issue a statement to the public via the Israeli news media. The company said it was only a “one-off incident that was immediately dealt with.”

Although there are still no reports that state that voter details were taken advantage of, the repercussions of the data breach are huge. Iran and other foreign agencies may gain access to the private information of Israeli officials, notes The Jerusalem Post.

Though the current laws in place allow political parties access to the voter registry, the organizations are not permitted to disclose the information to third-party providers.

Following the announcement of the breach, a petition filed on Thursday, February 6, 2020, against the Likud Party has been laid out, reports The Times of Israel. The organization is accused of compromising Israeli personal information as well as endangering the welfare and history of the country.

This latest privacy security breach is the second incident involving the Likud Party in just five months, states The Times of Israel.

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