Passport validity unaffected by data breach of 70,000 headshots: BOCA

Résumé détaillé

Passports already issued remain valid despite a data breach involving more than 70,000 passport photos held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA), the agency said, adding that passport holders do not need to apply for replacements.

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Passports already issued remain valid despite a data breach involving more than 70,000 passport photos held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA), the agency said, adding that passport holders do not need to apply for replacements.

BOCA apologized for the personal data breach and the public concern it had caused, saying it had taken emergency measures, according to a news release.

The agency said it discovered the breach on Nov. 4 and immediately formed a task force to isolate the affected servers, investigate the incident, preserve evidence and report the breach to the relevant information security authority.

It also made contingency plans to ensure its services would not be disrupted.

The affected websites have been restored, passed security tests and resumed operations, BOCA said.

The agency said its investigation identified several categories of information accessed by hackers.

The first involved 72,702 headshots uploaded to BOCA's website by people or travel agencies applying for or renewing passports online between Sept. 3 and Nov. 2. Applicants who submitted their applications in person at service counters were not affected, it said.

The compromised data also included 26,072 scanned letters of authorization verified by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York between Oct. 26, 2021 and Nov. 6, 2026.

Applications processed domestically or through other overseas offices were unaffected, as were birth, death, marriage and academic documents, BOCA said.

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