Telecom Operators: Personal data of crores of users using the networks of Indian telecom companies i.e. Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea has been leaked. According to a report, data of a total of 750 million i.e. more than 75 crore users has been leaked. After the personal data of such a large number of users was leaked, the Department of Telecommunications of the Government of India has asked all the telecom operators of the country to conduct a security audit.
Data of more than 75 crore users leaked
Let us tell you that the report presented by India-based cyber security firm CloudSEK has claimed that hackers are selling 1.8 terabytes of data on the dark web, which includes personal information of Indian telecom users. This leaked data includes many sensitive information about common users, such as their name, mobile number, and their address. Apart from this, Aadhaar card data of users has also reportedly been leaked. CloudSEK says this breach poses a major cyberattack threat to individuals and organizations.
According to The Economic Times, telecom companies have informed DoT that the leaked information is a collection of old data sets of various telecom users. The companies have told the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, that this data breach has not happened due to any technical flaw in the infrastructure of the telecom operators.
CloudSEK’s Threat Intelligence and Security Researcher Sparsh Kulshrestha has said that the leaked data is indeed genuine. The contact numbers and Aadhaar card details associated with them have been found to be valid. Information of 750 million i.e. more than 75 crore users has been made available for sale on the dark web for just $3000.
What harm will be caused by data leak?
Using this data, hackers can carry out cyber attacks on any common users. Due to this, the identity of the users can be stolen, which can be used to defraud them or their acquaintances. The reputation of users can be harmed. Any kind of financial fraud can happen to users. At present, it is being investigated what harm can be caused by such a big data leak.
Jio, Airtel, Vi and other telecom operators have not yet responded officially to this situation. It is being said that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is also monitoring it. However, the official statement is still awaited.
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