Trinidad & Tobago’s Telecommunications Services (TSTT) has suffered a significant data breach, exposing the personal information of over a million citizens, including the nation’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley. The compromised data includes sensitive personal identifiers such as identification card numbers, driver’s license numbers, and passport numbers.
The extent of the leak is alarming, with over 6 gigabytes of personal data disseminated on the dark web. This data encompasses the names of 1.2 million individuals and has been downloaded more than 13,000 times. This widespread dissemination raises significant privacy and security concerns for the affected individuals.
In response to the breach, Marvin Gonzales, the Public Utilities Minister, has called for an independent investigation into the cyberattack. TSTT has acknowledged that some of the compromised data was accessed from a legacy system that is no longer in use. However, the company maintains that this data is, in many instances, no longer valid.
This data breach highlights the growing importance of cybersecurity measures in protecting sensitive personal information. Organizations must continuously evaluate and strengthen their data security protocols to prevent such incidents and safeguard the privacy of their customers.
