Massive Data Security Breach in India: Aadhaar Card Information of 81.5 Crore People Exposed Online
A major revelation has emerged regarding the largest data leak in India, involving the Aadhaar card information of approximately 81.5 crore Indians. In today’s digital era, cybersecurity is of utmost importance, with organizations implementing measures to prevent unauthorized access to data. However, threat actors are becoming increasingly cunning, employing innovative methods to obtain sensitive information. In this instance, a database containing the Aadhaar card, passport, and other personal details of millions of Indians has been exposed online. Let us delve deeper into this matter.
What happened
According to a ReturnByte report, the leak was initially discovered by American cybersecurity firm Resecurity, which spotted a thread on Breach Forums posted by a threat actor with the word “pwn001”. Lanka touted the database, which contains information such as Aadhaar, passport, phone numbers and addresses of nearly 81.5 million Indians. The hacker even released some spreadsheets as “proof” that he actually has the data.
The data was uploaded as leaked samples in spreadsheets with chunks of Aadhaar card data that the user claimed to have received from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The information appears to have been part of the COVID-19 details that were with the ICMR. According to the report, the data samples have been checked and found to be real data. Additionally, ReturnByte reports that the threat actor has put the data up for sale.
Countermeasures implemented
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the national cyber security agency, has informed the ICMR about the data leak and all top officials of various agencies have been brought in to find out whether Aadhaar and other credentials have actually been leaked or not. ReturnByte further reports that a standard SoP has been implemented to ensure damage control. It has been reported that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to launch a probe into the matter after the ICMR has lodged a complaint.
