They targeted four-star hotels across Italy to hack thousands of identification documents : high-resolution scans of passports and identity cards that were stolen from unsuspecting guests during check-in.
The large-scale illegal activity was carried out by the cybercriminal group "Mydocs", who then put the material up for sale on a dark web forum.
The illicit activity began last June. Over the past weekend, according to findings by the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), the cybercriminal group published new posts announcing that they had put over 70,000 documents "exfiltrated" from four different Italian hotels up for sale on the digital platform.
THE STRUCTURES – Among the structures hit by the cyber raids was the Ca' dei Conti hotel in Venice , from which 38,000 images were reportedly stolen in July. Other data thefts reportedly occurred at the Casa Dorita hotel in Milano Marittima (2,300 documents), the Regina Isabella hotel in Ischia (30,000), and the Hotel Continentale in Trieste (17,000). The documents were posted online, and in some cases, the faces of the actual owners were blurred with pixels .
The cybercriminals also set a price list, ranging from €800 to €10,000 . AgID filed the report on August 6, and the Postal Police are also investigating the case.
The Agency explains that personal documents can "represent a highly valuable asset" for criminal organizations operating online. Documents that end up on the "market" can be used for various types of scams: "Creating false documents," AgID explains, "based on real identities, opening fraudulent bank accounts or lines of credit, but also for so-called social engineering activities, aimed at targeting victims or their personal and professional circles."
In light of these attacks, which have targeted even the highest-level hospitality facilities, as demonstrated by recent cyberattacks, the Agency states that it is "essential" for those who collect and manage identity documents to "adopt rigorous measures for information protection and security, ensuring not only proper data processing, but also the safeguarding of their digital systems and portals from unauthorized access."
