The recently revealed data breach that occurred at the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE), an Italian copyright collecting agency, may have resulted in the theft of data related to Italian celebrities, according to BleepingComputer website.
This week, the Italian Data Protection Authority (GPDP) declared that they are looking into the breach.
“The Italian Society of Authors and Publishers had yesterday notified the Authority, within the terms set by the privacy legislation, of the violation of its servers due to a hacker attack for extortion purposes," the GPDP said. “The Guarantor is currently evaluating the information received from the Company, reserving the right to carry out the appropriate investigations."
Meanwhile, BleepingComputer points at a listing at the “extortion portal” of ransomware gang Everest, which claims that the perpetrators of the aforementioned breach managed to abscond with some 60 gigabytes of data.
The stolen information allegedly includes scans of national IDs and driver licenses, and other data “related to Italian celebrities, actors, musicians, artists, authors, and reputable creators in general.”
As attempts to ransom that data apparently weren't successful, the gang is now reportedly seeking to sell the stolen information for $500,000.
BleepingComputer advises SIAE members against contacting the perps and meeting their ransom demands, arguing that there is no guarantee that the stolen personal data won't be used.