Personal data including Aadhaar numbers of 50 lakh Indians leaked from this government website

According to Bengaluru-based cyber security firm Technisakt, data from Tamil Nadu’s Public Distribution System (PDS) was breached and a database containing personal information of around 5 million users was also uploaded on hacker forums. The leaked data included Aadhaar numbers of users as well as sensitive information of beneficiaries, such as their family details and mobile numbers. Hackers can use the leaked data to launch phishing attacks and easily target fraudsters, including the elderly, in the state. However, the state government is yet to publicly confirm the violation.

According to the cyber-security startup, the data leaked on the web included information of a total of 49,19,668 people from Tamil Nadu. This included 3,59,485 phone numbers as well as postal addresses and Aadhaar numbers of the affected users. The leaked database, as checked by Gadgets 360, also contains ‘Makkal Number’, which has been used by the state government to keep records of all citizens, including newborn babies. commenced was.

Apart from this, the leaked data also included information about the family members of the beneficiaries and their relationship with them. The matter was first reported by The Week published drank.

It is currently unclear whether the data was hacked directly from a website linked to the Tamil Nadu government or from a third party vendor. However, the database shows that this appears to be a very small part of the total database, as the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department’s site reported. dashboard As per reports, there are more than 6.8 crore registered beneficiaries for the PDS system.

TechniSanct CEO Nandkishore Harikumar told Gadgets 360 that the leaked data was uploaded on June 28 and was traced the same day, but was removed about an hour later.

TecniSanct also found that the website of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department (tnpds.gov.in) was under attack, carried out by cybercriminal group “1945VN”. However, it is not clear whether there is a connection between that attack and the latest breach.