Data Leak: According to a News18 story, the personal information of over 81.5 crore Indians—allegedly obtained from the Indian Council of Medial Research (ICMR)—has been exposed online in what is being called the “biggest” data leak case in the nation.
Resecurity Unearths the Data Breach
According to the report, Resecurity, an American cyber security and intelligence outfit, was the first to discover the breach. The cyber firm claims that a “threat actor” going by the handle “pwn001” created a thread on Breach Forums, a “premier Databreach discussion and leaks forum,” that allowed access to 815 million (81.5 crore) Indians’ details.
Data Breach Encompasses 10 Times the Population of Key Nations
To put things in perspective, this is about ten times the combined population of Iran, Turkey, and Germany, the 17th, 18th, and 19th most populous countries in the world, respectively. With 1.43 billion inhabitants, India is the most populated nation in the world. Using a username on X (formerly Twitter), “pwn001” posted names, addresses, phone numbers, and Aadhaar and passport details. The hacker says that these facts were taken from the Covid-19 test records of citizens who had registered with the ICMR. “Pwn001” sent spreadsheets containing four sizable leak samples with Aadhaar data fragments as evidence. These were found to be legitimate Aadhaar card IDs after analysis.
Probing India’s Massive Data Breach
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to look into the problem after receiving a complaint from the ICMR, according to the article, even though neither the government nor the ICMR have provided an official comment. Furthermore, all of the senior representatives from different ministries and agencies have been included. Additionally, the necessary Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been implemented in order to control the damage.
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