A website called the UK Visa Portal is publicly disclosing the passports and selfies of applicants who registered and paid for the website to obtain a UK immigrant visa, according to TechCrunch.
An anonymous person notified TechCrunch of the security breach, saying the site exposed at least 100,000 documents from people who uploaded their passports and selfies to the site as part of the application process.
The site is not affiliated with the UK government and some have he complained that they mistakenly paid a fee to this company instead of using the official GOV.UK website.
TechCrunch confirmed it UK Visa Portal is the source of the data leak and verified the authenticity of the exposed data by contacting affected individuals to ask if their information was accurate.
The UK Visa Portal has no way of reporting security issues through its website, nor does its website provide names or contact details for company management. TechCrunch sent an email to the address listed on the UK Visa Portal website to notify the company that it has a persistent security bug and to ask who from management can accept specific details to resolve the issue. Given the sensitivity of the exposed data, TechCrunch explained that it could not share details with the company’s general customer support inbox because it could not guarantee that the exposed data would not be misused.
Instead, TechCrunch was briefed by the company’s alleged lawyers and PR firm. TechCrunch again explained that given the nature of the exposed files, it could only share details directly with the company’s management and asked that they put TechCrunch in touch with them.
TechCrunch was not notified by UK Visa Portal management. The security bug has not yet been fixed.
While the security issue is ongoing, TechCrunch believes it is in the public interest for people using the company’s services to be aware of the issue. TechCrunch is not releasing exact details in an effort to minimize any further risk to its information.
It is not necessary to use a third party service to apply for an online UK Travel Authorization unless you have an immigration lawyer and applicants should apply through the UK Government website.
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