The police discovery of the gang once again ignited the debate over security in cyberspace. The ID card number is sufficient to access all private data of an individual and how much money s/he has in bank accounts.Avcı said it is very easy to carry out transactions by using the ID number of a person, adding: “There is no such thing as 100 percent security in cyberspace. We should always keep our computers up-to-date.”
Evaluating the gang that illegally obtained and sold the private data of nearly 70 million, he said: “We should not see this gang as the sole offender. There is a history of this. When Housing Provision Aid [KEY] reimbursements were being distributed to the people, lists were posted on the Internet containing all kinds of private information about the people to whom these reimbursements were to be made. Many warnings had been made then about the security of private data, but the officials did not understand the severity of the threat. These lists were later withdrawn from the Internet, but it was already too late.”
Avcı said the appearance of the ID numbers of many people has given gangs the opportunity to obtain and use them illegally.
The gang members detained last week were held on charges of establishing an organization to commit a crime, accessing information systems without permission and illegally obtaining personal data. An investigation discovered that the group was led by an individual named E.K. and had gathered a databank with people’s personal information. The gang wrote computer programs containing the addresses and telephone numbers of individuals, easily searchable, and sold the programs to several law offices.
“There is now a problem with the ID numbers and we are facing a great danger. Even your closest relative can now prevent you from accessing the Internet by using your ID number,” he said. Noting that the lack of cyber security is at an alarming level, the young hacker likened cyberspace to a battlefield. Avcı, whose interest in computers began at the age of 1, first came to prominence in 2006 when he managed to hack into the computer systems of many holdings.
In the same year, he also hacked into a well-known foreign security firm, showing that the systems of the company were not 100 percent secure.
