'Contract worker stole all Israelis' personal information'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 10/24/2011 13:16
Information was used to create searchable database; computer technician put the database on Internet for anyone worldwide to access.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
A
contract worker from the Labor and Welfare Ministry was charged with
stealing the personal information of over nine million Israelis from the Population Registry, the
Justice Ministry announced Monday after a media ban was lifted.
The
worker electronically copied identification numbers, full names,
addresses, dates of birth, information on family connections and other
information in order to sell it to a private buyer.
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The
information was also given to another individual who used it to design a
software program called "Agron 2006", which exploited the database to
allow queries of all Israeli citizens, allowing information to be
illegally sold based on various parameters. Those parameters could
include familial relationships of the entire Israeli population, over
several generations.
Among those people whose information was stolen were minors and deceased citizens.
A
copy of the software program, devoid of any protection mechanisms, was
later obtained by a computer technician who uploaded it to the Internet.
He even created a website with detailed instructions explaining how to download
and use the Argon program with Israeli citizens' personal information.
Ironically, the computer technician went through great lengths to hide
his own identity. Using the online pseudonym "aRi", the suspect used
various methods and software to hide his IP address and delete any
traces of his activity from computers he used, the Justice Ministry
said.
The significance of the personal information's release to the entire world, the Justice
Ministry said, ranges from personal privacy to economic and physical
security.