The private data of 415,000 people who registered on the prostitution platform Redlights have been stolen by an unknown hacker. On Redlights, customers can come into contact with sex workers.
The website has a Belgian owner, but is also active in the Netherlands. It is not known how many Dutch customers have been affected.
According to Link Media, the company behind Redlights, the hacker is threatening to sell the captured data to the highest bidder on the dark web, the hidden part of the internet. According to Link Media, Redlights is the largest prostitution platform in the Benelux.
It is not known exactly what data was captured, but Redlights advises users to change their username and password to be on the safe side. Advertisers and visitors active from February 2023 don’t have to worry, Redlights said. The site then says it has added an ‘extra layer of security’. “Which ensures that all private data and messages are extra encrypted and coded.”
Very unfortunate
Among the 415,000 captured accounts are 128,000 active users: 87,000 visitors and 41,000 sex workers. Redlights points out that many of those users hide behind pseudonyms and ditto email addresses. “Which makes their recognition in public a lot more difficult.”
The site says it is working with Belgian authorities to find the hacker. We are very sorry for our advertisers and users that this could happen.
Despite repeated attempts, Link Media could not be reached for a response this morning. As far as we know, no report has been made to the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
In 2019, the data of 250,000 visitors to prostitution website Hookers was exposed. That data was also traded via the dark web.
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