Hackers publish Florida driver data after breach of state motor vehicle database

The group said it breached the database, known as DAVID, earlier in September. As evidence, it posted a screenshot purporting to be a record associated with Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex offender who had a residence in Florida. The hackers said on their leak site that they published the stolen data “because the victim did not pay a ransom or cooperate and comply” with their demands.

Florida’s motor vehicle agency, FLHSMV, confirmed a data breach in a statement last week, after the hackers obtained a police officer’s credentials that were stored on a personal device. An agency spokesperson did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment on Wednesday about the published data.

According to a copy of the stolen data that TechCrunch has seen, the hackers stole hundreds of thousands of certificates of vehicle ownership records. Those records contained vehicle owners’ names and the addresses of buyers and sellers, as well as vehicle identification numbers.

A smaller number of files included Social Security numbers and other government-issued documents, such as non-U.S. passports and immigration papers. The stolen material did not appear to contain driver’s licenses or people’s photos.

The Florida breach comes in the same month as a much larger hack at identity verification company IDScan, which allowed hackers to steal more than 150 million images of driver’s licenses.

Editor's Summary ShinyHunters has published data it says was stolen from Florida’s DAVID vehicle and driver database after ransom demands were not met. FLHSMV confirmed the breach, and the exposed files include vehicle ownership records and, in smaller numbers, Social Security numbers and immigration documents. The release follows a separate hack at IDScan that exposed more than 150 million driver’s license images.