Digital Journal published an article authored by Tim Sandle on Feb 23, 2021 about Jamaica’s web portal exposing travellers data. Below are some key highlights:
- The Amber Group, a contractor related to the Jamaican government, left an AWS cloud storage server publicly exposed. The exposed information included 70,000 negative COVID-19 lab results, plus personal data relating to patients.
- The Amber Group data breach issue saw over 425,000 immigration documents containing traveLler names, dates of birth, and passport numbers, as well as 440,000 images of travelLers’ signatures.
- This happened in relation to the JamCOVID19 website and app. The server is now secured, but there is no information on how long it was open for.
- Looking into the serious matter for Digital Journal was Anurag Kahol, CTO and co-founder of Bitglass. The data is also of use to hackers, Kahol contends: “The compromised personally identifiable information (PII) in this incident was highly valuable data that criminals could either sell on the dark web for profit or use for identity theft and phishing schemes.” Kahol recommends: “Government institutions handling PII must prioritize the safety of their travelLers and citizens.
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