Hackers publish thousands of drivers' data after breaching Florida motor vehicle database

The ShinyHunters hacking group has published hundreds of thousands of files taken from a Florida state database of vehicles and driver information. The hackers said they released the stolen data on their leak site after the victim refused to pay a ransom and did not cooperate with their demands. The group said it breached the database, known as DAVID, earlier in September.

As evidence of the intrusion, the hackers posted a screenshot that purported to be a record tied to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex offender who had a residence in Florida. The Florida motor vehicle agency, FLHSMV, confirmed a data breach in a statement last week. The agency said the hackers obtained a police officer's credentials that were stored on a personal device. An agency spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday about the published data.

A copy of the stolen data reviewed by TechCrunch shows the hackers took hundreds of thousands of certificates of vehicle ownership records. Those records contained the names and addresses of vehicle owners, buyers and sellers, along with 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 files did not appear to contain driver's licenses or people's photos.

The breach of the Florida motor vehicle database occurred in the same month as a large hack at identity verification company IDScan. That incident allowed hackers to steal over 150 million images of driver's licenses. Both episodes involve driver and identity records held by organizations that compile them at scale.

For U.S. consumers, the exposure of names, addresses, vehicle identification numbers and, in some cases, Social Security numbers creates risk that the data could be used for identity theft or fraud. The records also include some immigration papers and non-U.S. passports, documents that are difficult to replace and are often used to prove identity or work authorization. The Florida agency has not said how many individuals are affected.

The incident adds to a run of breaches involving driver and identity data this year. The ShinyHunters group said it published the Florida files because the victim did not comply with its demands. FLHSMV has confirmed the breach but has not commented on the material the hackers released.

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