A prominent hacker group has published the alleged driving record of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as part of an extortion attempt against the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The group, known as ShinyHunters, shared a screenshot of the purported record to its dark web leak site on Monday alongside demands that an undisclosed ransom be paid.
“Contact us, you know how,” the hackers wrote, “or we will release the files.”
Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™
Point phone camera here
‘Sexual Offender’ label
Epstein’s record, which appears to have been taken from Florida’s Driver and Vehicle Information Database, known as DAVID, includes a wide range of personal data such as an ID number, home address, physical characteristics and Social Security Number.
The record lists several vehicles — two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a Mercedes-Benz, a Chevrolet and a Volkswagen convertible — along with the tag and VIN numbers.
Under a photograph and signature of Epstein, the term “Sexual Offender” is written in red. Another label indicates that the record is expired.
The motor vehicles agency describes the DAVID system as “a multifaceted database that affords immediate retrieval of driver and motor vehicle information that is indispensable for law enforcement and criminal justice officials.”
Information in the system is confidential under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. It is not subject to Florida’s open records laws, although individuals can request their own records.
The post from the hackers does not provide any details on what data, and how much, was allegedly stolen.
The motor vehicles agency has not commented on the purported breach and did not respond to a request for comment from Straight Arrow.
Second hack of driver records
ShinyHunters has been active since 2019 and has been responsible for numerous high-profile breaches against companies such as PornHub, Vimeo and Canvas.
The alleged breach of Florida driver’s records comes days after a previously unknown hacker group began selling access to 170 million identity documents, including more than 153 million driver’s licenses, on the dark web.
That service, known as Nexus, was set up after the hackers allegedly spent more than one year inside the servers of an ID verification company.
It remains unclear if the two breaches are related.
Round out your reading
- He built his own Flock-style camera to track police. The police didn’t like it.
- Trump’s apparent joke about letting Iran bomb LA and San Diego catches bipartisan condemnation.
- Grandparents are fighting for access to their grandchildren. Here’s what the law says.
- When the ‘victim’ is made with AI, child pornography cases get complicated.
- Fibermaxxing is trending. Here’s what the science says.
