American cybersecurity agency reports massive breach involving Aadhar data
New Delhi: In a concerning revelation, an American cybersecurity and intelligence agency, Resecurity, has reported a massive data leak involving the Aadhaar and passport information of over 81 crore Indians. The alert, issued by Resecurity, stated that on October 9, 2023, a threat actor using the alias ‘pwn0001’ posted a thread on 'Breach Forums', offering access to 815 million "Indian Citizen Aadhaar & Passport" records for sale, highlighting the alarming scale of the breach compared to India's population of just over 1.486 billion people.
According to Resecurity's report, the threat actor was willing to sell the entire dataset for $80,000. The leaked information includes sensitive details such as names, father's names, phone numbers, passport numbers, Aadhaar numbers, ages, genders, addresses, and pin codes of Indian citizens. Resecurity confirmed the validity of Aadhaar Card IDs through the government portal's "Verify Aadhaar" feature.
Additionally, another threat actor named ‘Lucius’ advertised a 1.8 terabyte data leak containing India's internal law enforcement organization's database. This leak included names, phone numbers, addresses, national ID numbers, relative names, Aadhaar IDs, Voter IDs, and driving license records, making it a more extensive collection of personally identifiable information (PII) than the previous breach.
The leakage of such vast amounts of Indian PII data on the 'Dark Web' poses a significant risk of digital identity theft. Cybercriminals could potentially exploit these stolen credentials for various scams, including online banking theft and e-tax refund frauds.
India has witnessed a surge in cyberattacks targeting government platforms. Earlier this year, the government's Parivahan website experienced a data breach, exposing sensitive data and source code of 10,000 users. Additionally, threat actors have been selling Aadhaar and passport numbers of COVID-vaccinated individuals via platforms like Telegram.
India's Aadhaar system, which has issued approximately 1.4 billion IDs since its launch in 2009, stands as one of the world's largest biometric ID programs. Aadhaar serves as a digital ID, facilitating electronic payments, online verification (e-KYC), and compatibility with various financial platforms. As of February 2023, 945 million people, constituting 60% of India’s eligible voters, had linked their Aadhaar cards to their voter IDs.
To address data security concerns, the Rajya Sabha passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, in August. This legislation aims to safeguard citizens' right to personal information, applying to digital personal data collected both online and offline, as well as data processed outside India for offering goods or services within the country.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
