Sensitive personal information about over a billion people has apparently been leaked from a government agency and put up for sale on the dark web, in what would be one of the biggest data breaches in history. 

Information that has been leaked is said to include names, addresses, national ID numbers and mobile phone numbers, along with police and medical records.

Security

• 8 habits of highly secure remote workers
• How to find and remove spyware from your phone
• The best VPN services: How do the top 5 compare?
• How to find out if you are involved in a data breach -- and what to do next

In a Tweet, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said, "Our threat intelligence detected 1 billion resident records for sell in the dark web", pointing towards a bug in a deployment by an unnamed government agency as the reason the data was able to be accessed. 

SEE: A security researcher easily found my passwords and more: How my digital footprints left me surprisingly over-exposed

He warned that the information stolen could have an impact on hacker detection and prevention measures. 

"It is important for all platforms to enhance their security measures in this area. Binance has already stepped up verifications for users potentially affected," said Zhao. 

Zhao doesn't name a particular country in his post. But according to Reuters, a user posting on a prominent underground hacking forum claimed to be selling a database containing over 23 terabytes of personal information belonging to 'billions' of Chinese citizens. 

Reuters said the hackers claimed that the information has been leaked from the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database and are offering it up for sale for 10 bitcoin -- currently around$200,000. Reuters was unable to confirm this and the police department did not respond to the news agency's requests for comment.

MORE ON CYBERSECURITY

• Hackers are now hiding inside networks for longer. That's not a good sign
• Don't let your cloud cybersecurity choices leave the door open for hackers
• The 6 best password managers: Easily maintain all your logins
• We're all still using the same passwords, even after they've been breached
• How to keep your bank details and finances more secure online