Ministry of Defense confirms fundamental data leak

• By Kayleigh Madjar / Staff Writer, at CNA

The Defense Ministry today confirmed a data breach of basic personal information on certain senior officials in response to a report from Chinese-language media, but said it did not include information on personal assets.

The Chinese times A report was published this morning stating that personal data of people with the rank of colonel and above – including Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) – was leaked last week.

Citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the ministry’s Ethics Bureau was collecting information on the personal assets of senior officials, who are legally required to report their assets.

Photo: Taipei Times

The office usually sends the information separately to each individual, it said.

However, a dossier containing all the information the agency had collected was accidentally sent to the declarants and their military units, the newspaper reported.

For security purposes, pseudonyms are used for military personnel, but their real names are used for the asset report, the newspaper said.

In a press release, the ministry said the office had sent the list of asset reports to the appropriate units for authorization last Tuesday.

After investigation, the ministry said it found some leaks of sensitive personal information during the reporting process.

The data includes their service unit, title, name and reporting year, but not personal savings information, real estate holdings or investments, the report said.

The ministry said it has already informed recipients to return the document and carry out risk checks.

It also pledged to investigate the cause of the negligence and strengthen communications to prevent recurrence.