RIGA — The high-profile theft of confidential tax data continued to hex Latvia, with officials on Friday admitting that a total of 120 people lifted documents from a hole in the State Revenue Service’s website and the enigmatic “Neo” released salary data of the country’s financial markets regulator.

An official from the [private_supervisor]State Revenue Service told parliament that 120 people illegally downloaded documents from the service’s electronic declaration system and that the “hole” existed from the end of 2007 until Feb. 4, 2010, when it was first discovered and promptly closed.

Previously the service has stated that the illegal downloads — which are not being classified as the work of hackers since there was no bypassing of a security system — began on October 29, 2009.

Media are reporting that some 7.4 million documents, equaling 120 gigabytes of data, were downloaded from the site, including income statements and tax declarations of public officials, bureaucrats, and business.

An enigmatic group by the name of the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening has been disseminating the documents for public analysis, and on Friday the group’s lead voice — who goes by the name of Neo — placed the salaries of Latvia’s Finance and Capital Markets Commission on a public server. Most employees earn over 1,000 lats (€1,400) a month, but the ten highest salaries last year ranged from 3,500 to 7,500 lats (€4,900 to €10,750).

Commenting the salaries, Neo said, the financial regulator “is an oasis untouched by the crisis, where no one knows what it means to tighten their belt. Where is the solidarity with other government institutions?”

The commission responded immediately, calling a press conference where it informed journalists that salaries were cut 19 percent last year and that more cuts would be made this year.

Commission chairwoman Anna Dravniece confirmed that the data published by Neo are accurate.

Earlier this week the salaries of Rigas Satiksme (the transportation authority), Rigas Siltums (municipal heating company), and Latvia’s State Police were made public by the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into the theft of the documents and have appealed to foreign colleagues for help in apprehending the data thieves, who are believed to have operated abroad.

Meanwhile, the government has opened an internal probe to determine who is at fault for the faulty program that allowed users to easily download confidential data. The electronic filing system was created by Exigen Services Latvia, and KPMG Baltics, an auditing firm, carried out two inspections of the system to test’s security compliance, the State Revenue Service said.[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]State Revenue Service told parliament that 120 people illegally downloaded documents from the service’s electronic declaration system and that the “hole” existed from the end of 2007 until Feb. 4, 2010, when it was first discovered and promptly closed.

Previously the service has stated that the illegal downloads — which are not being classified as the work of hackers since there was no bypassing of a security system — began on October 29, 2009.

Media are reporting that some 7.4 million documents, equaling 120 gigabytes of data, were downloaded from the site, including income statements and tax declarations of public officials, bureaucrats, and business.

An enigmatic group by the name of the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening has been disseminating the documents for public analysis, and on Friday the group’s lead voice — who goes by the name of Neo — placed the salaries of Latvia’s Finance and Capital Markets Commission on a public server. Most employees earn over 1,000 lats (€1,400) a month, but the ten highest salaries last year ranged from 3,500 to 7,500 lats (€4,900 to €10,750).

Commenting the salaries, Neo said, the financial regulator “is an oasis untouched by the crisis, where no one knows what it means to tighten their belt. Where is the solidarity with other government institutions?”

The commission responded immediately, calling a press conference where it informed journalists that salaries were cut 19 percent last year and that more cuts would be made this year.

Commission chairwoman Anna Dravniece confirmed that the data published by Neo are accurate.

Earlier this week the salaries of Rigas Satiksme (the transportation authority), Rigas Siltums (municipal heating company), and Latvia’s State Police were made public by the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into the theft of the documents and have appealed to foreign colleagues for help in apprehending the data thieves, who are believed to have operated abroad.

Meanwhile, the government has opened an internal probe to determine who is at fault for the faulty program that allowed users to easily download confidential data. The electronic filing system was created by Exigen Services Latvia, and KPMG Baltics, an auditing firm, carried out two inspections of the system to test’s security compliance, the State Revenue Service said.[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]State Revenue Service told parliament that 120 people illegally downloaded documents from the service’s electronic declaration system and that the “hole” existed from the end of 2007 until Feb. 4, 2010, when it was first discovered and promptly closed.

Previously the service has stated that the illegal downloads — which are not being classified as the work of hackers since there was no bypassing of a security system — began on October 29, 2009.

Media are reporting that some 7.4 million documents, equaling 120 gigabytes of data, were downloaded from the site, including income statements and tax declarations of public officials, bureaucrats, and business.

An enigmatic group by the name of the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening has been disseminating the documents for public analysis, and on Friday the group’s lead voice — who goes by the name of Neo — placed the salaries of Latvia’s Finance and Capital Markets Commission on a public server. Most employees earn over 1,000 lats (€1,400) a month, but the ten highest salaries last year ranged from 3,500 to 7,500 lats (€4,900 to €10,750).

Commenting the salaries, Neo said, the financial regulator “is an oasis untouched by the crisis, where no one knows what it means to tighten their belt. Where is the solidarity with other government institutions?”

The commission responded immediately, calling a press conference where it informed journalists that salaries were cut 19 percent last year and that more cuts would be made this year.

Commission chairwoman Anna Dravniece confirmed that the data published by Neo are accurate.

Earlier this week the salaries of Rigas Satiksme (the transportation authority), Rigas Siltums (municipal heating company), and Latvia’s State Police were made public by the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into the theft of the documents and have appealed to foreign colleagues for help in apprehending the data thieves, who are believed to have operated abroad.

Meanwhile, the government has opened an internal probe to determine who is at fault for the faulty program that allowed users to easily download confidential data. The electronic filing system was created by Exigen Services Latvia, and KPMG Baltics, an auditing firm, carried out two inspections of the system to test’s security compliance, the State Revenue Service said.[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]State Revenue Service told parliament that 120 people illegally downloaded documents from the service’s electronic declaration system and that the “hole” existed from the end of 2007 until Feb. 4, 2010, when it was first discovered and promptly closed.

Previously the service has stated that the illegal downloads — which are not being classified as the work of hackers since there was no bypassing of a security system — began on October 29, 2009.

Media are reporting that some 7.4 million documents, equaling 120 gigabytes of data, were downloaded from the site, including income statements and tax declarations of public officials, bureaucrats, and business.

An enigmatic group by the name of the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening has been disseminating the documents for public analysis, and on Friday the group’s lead voice — who goes by the name of Neo — placed the salaries of Latvia’s Finance and Capital Markets Commission on a public server. Most employees earn over 1,000 lats (€1,400) a month, but the ten highest salaries last year ranged from 3,500 to 7,500 lats (€4,900 to €10,750).

Commenting the salaries, Neo said, the financial regulator “is an oasis untouched by the crisis, where no one knows what it means to tighten their belt. Where is the solidarity with other government institutions?”

The commission responded immediately, calling a press conference where it informed journalists that salaries were cut 19 percent last year and that more cuts would be made this year.

Commission chairwoman Anna Dravniece confirmed that the data published by Neo are accurate.

Earlier this week the salaries of Rigas Satiksme (the transportation authority), Rigas Siltums (municipal heating company), and Latvia’s State Police were made public by the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into the theft of the documents and have appealed to foreign colleagues for help in apprehending the data thieves, who are believed to have operated abroad.

Meanwhile, the government has opened an internal probe to determine who is at fault for the faulty program that allowed users to easily download confidential data. The electronic filing system was created by Exigen Services Latvia, and KPMG Baltics, an auditing firm, carried out two inspections of the system to test’s security compliance, the State Revenue Service said.[/private_subscription 1 year]

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