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Hacker Stole Thousands of Documents from Mexico’s Embassy

Techie Talks April 21, 2019

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A malicious guy, who has hacked and stolen thousands of sensitive documents from Mexico’s embassy in Guatemala and than posted them online.

Mexican Embassy data which ranges from passports to other sensitive information 4.8k documents and thousands of records now public https://t.co/W2ObfGtxN6 #hacked #databreach pic.twitter.com/jYsIys4mZJ

— Taylor (@0x55Taylor) April 15, 2019

The attacker, who has put the sensitive documents online have been now pulled the data offline and is no longer available to download.

But the data that was stolen was shared with TechCrunch to verify it’s content before posting them on their portals.

The hacker told TechCrunch in a message: “A vulnerable server in Guatemala related to the Mexican embassy was compromised and I downloaded all the documents and databases.” He said he contacted Mexican officials but he was ignored.

In previous correspondence with the hacker, he said he tries to report problems and has received bounty payouts for his discoveries. “But when I don’t get a reply, then it’s going public,” he said.

Over 4,800 documents, which were stolen, most of them were related to the inner working of the Mexican embassy in the Guatemalan capital, which do includes consular activities, such as recognizing births and deaths, dealing with Mexican citizens who have been incarcerated or jailed and the issuing of travel documents.

*More than a thousand passports — including identification issued to diplomats — were stolen. (Image: supplied)*

The findings of these documents were very sensitive and the those includes Mexican citizens and diplomats — includes scans of passports, visas, birth certificates and more — but also some Guatemalan citizens.

Several of these documents also contained the scans of the front and the back of payment cards.

*One of the diplomatic visas issued to a Mexican diplomat stolen in the files. (Image: supplied)*

These sensitive data also contains tons of letters that grants diplomats rights, privileges and immunities to embassy staff.

When reached Friday, Gerardo Izzo, a spokesperson for the consul general in New York, said it is taking the matter “very seriously” but did not immediately have comment.

Friday is a national holiday in Mexico.