German federal watchdog knew for weeks of mass password theft
From: EuroNews
German federal security officials have admitted they knew several weeks ago that internet hackers had stolen 16 million email passwords.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) only alerted the public this week.
BSI president Michael Hange defended the time lag in issuing the public alert, saying the office had needed time to set up a website where online users could securely check whether they had fallen victim to the theft.
“Setting up a process that complies with data protection laws and can handle such a large number of requests needs preparation time,” Hange told public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.
The BSI website reassuring worried internet users stopped working, but it is now back online.
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