Personal Data of Over 81 Crore Indians Allegedly Leaked and Sold on Dark Web: Report،
In a disturbing revelation, it has been reported that the personal data of over 81 million Indian citizens has allegedly been leaked and put up for sale on the dark web. The data in question relates to COVID-19 test records and is believed to have been stored by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The breach was exposed thanks to the efforts of a US cybersecurity and intelligence agency.
The data breach reportedly includes sensitive information such as beneficiary names, addresses, phone numbers and Aadhaar card numbers. The breach was also announced on a platform known as “X”, formerly Twitter, where the individual responsible, referred to as the “threat actor”, disclosed more details. It appears that the “threat actor” shared spreadsheets containing four large leak samples, each containing one lakh records of personally identifiable information linked to Indian residents, it claims. The Hindu sector of activity report.
Health ministry officials confirmed that India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) was informed of the breach by the ICMR. The exact source of the breach remains unclear, as it is unclear whether the hacker infiltrated ICMR’s systems or whether the data was compromised from other sources.
A Health Ministry official said, “Verification of violation reports is currently underway,” emphasizing the urgency of the situation.
This incident is not the first time that the Indian healthcare system has fallen victim to cyberattacks. Earlier this year, reports emerged of Covid-19 vaccination data breaches. Initially, the breach was believed to have occurred through the CoWIN portal, but subsequent investigations revealed breaches in various state government databases.
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In November 2022, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) faced a cyberattack that disrupted the functioning of the Outpatient Department (OPD) and sample collection services as the facility’s servers were compromised. compromise.
This alarming breach raises concerns about the security of sensitive health data in India and highlights the need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect citizens’ personal information from malicious actors on the dark web. Authorities are working diligently to investigate the breach and prevent further data leaks, with India’s Computer Emergency Response Team playing a central role in these efforts.
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