Vehicle-sharing platform iRent on Saturday apologized for an incident that risked the exposure of personal data of its more than 400,000 users.
Ho Ing Mobility Service, a subsidiary of automotive conglomerate Hotai Motor Co that runs the platform, said in a statement that it had compensated its users with free hours, which can be redeemed when booking vehicles.
The company said e-mail notifications regarding the issue were sent to users on Wednesday and the compensation mechanism was implemented a day later.
Photo courtesy of Ho Ing Mobility Service
Ho Ing said its initial assessment found that the data of about 140,000 people had been affected over the past three months.
However, it notified and compensated more than 400,000 users who opened iRent accounts since the implementation of the affected database, as it seeks to demonstrate its commitment to safeguarding users from potential fraud, the company said.
Ho Ing reiterated that it immediately corrected the problem as soon as it was made aware of it on Jan. 28.
It thanked government agencies for their guidance and assistance in dealing with the issue.
On Wednesday, a senior official at the Ministry of Digital Affairs said the ministry took action to secure an iRent database that contained the personal information of tens of thousands of users after US-based researchers found that it was not password protected.
The Web site TechCrunch first reported the issue on Tuesday last week, saying that the database was on a cloud server owned by Hotai Motor that “was inadvertently accessible from the Internet.”
“Because the database was not password-protected, anyone on the Internet could access the iRent customer data just by knowing its IP address,” the Web site said.
The databank contained the names, mobile phone numbers, e-mail addresses, home addresses, drivers’ license photographs and partially redacted payment card details of iRent users.
TechCrunch said it had reviewed part of the exposed data and confirmed the findings of security researcher Anurag Sen, who discovered the issue.
It said it sent several e-mails to Hotai Motor about the exposed database, without receiving a reply, and contacted the ministry, which it said dealt with the issue, the report said.
Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Lee Huai-jen (李懷仁) confirmed that Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) was informed of the issue by a foreign media outlet during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Because it was an information security incident involving a private company, Tang referred the case to the Taiwan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center, which is run by the ministry-affiliated Taiwan Network Information Center, Lee said.
The coordination center blocked outside access to the database, Lee added.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS