An identity thief has expressed his gratitude to the Maltese Electoral Commission for putting the personal details of every citizen who is eligible to vote in Malta on a publicly accessible registry.
Despite the fact that identity theft is one of the fastest-growing digital crimes in the world, any voter’s name, address and ID card number can be viewed by visiting https://electoral.gov.mt/Register/Enquiry#
A hacker who spoke to Bis-Serjetà said the registry was a useful tool to gather enough personal information to be able to impersonate someone digitally.
“On the Electoral Commission website, you can search for people by the street name of their registered address. So let’s say I happened to know that Joseph and Michelle Muscat live somewhere on Triq San Pawl Milqi in Burmarrad, but didn’t know the exact address. I could easily use the electoral registry to find out, and get their ID card number for good measure,” the hacker said, adding that he could also discover how many people lived at the same address.
“Obviously, searching by street name is very tedious. But up until 2018, anyone could actually buy a CD with all the info, legally, very few questions asked, from the Commission itself, which you could make into your own database that allows you to search by name. Then, I would use the current online version to double-check the info, and voila – I now know where everyone lives, whether they’re a plumber or a prime minister, and discover some juicy details in the process.
“I could also use the person’s ID card number to approximate the day and month they were born in, then go on LESA’s website and, through trial and error, get their exact date of birth, and that’s another piece of the puzzle.”
The hacker thanked the Electoral Commission for providing such a plentiful source of data.
“In other countries, I’d have to steal people’s wallets or rummage through their bins in the hope of finding some bills or other documents. But here, they hand it to you on a plate and I couldn’t be more grateful that no one gives a fuck about privacy or that pesky GDPR. Given how lax security can be at Maltese banks and internet companies, I’m sure all the info will come in very handy.
“Incidentally, did you know Konrad Mizzi named his apartment block after himself?”
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