Data breach exposes 2.9 lakh Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board's customers' details: Report
Bengaluru: A major data breach has exposed the personal information of more than 2.9 lakh users of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), according to a recent probe conducted by the Bengaluru-based cybersecurity firm CloudSEK.
The breach involved unauthorised access to BWSSB's water connection application portal, exposing sensitive user data including Aadhaar numbers, PAN details, mobile numbers, full addresses, email IDs, and payment records, the probe report revealed, as cited by Deccan Herald on Tuesday.
The compromised database was reportedly listed for sale on BreachForum, an underground data leaks web forum, by a threat actor with the username pirates_gold.
"The initial post by the threat actor specified a payable amount of $500 (approximately Rs 42,616) for access to the compromised BWSSB database. However, upon direct engagement, the actor demonstrated high level of urgency and appeared willing to negotiate significantly lower prices, indicating a potential desperation to sell," CloudSEK noted in its findings, which were shared with both the BWSSB chairman and the Officer on Special Duty to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
"The post claimed that the database access would expose records of 2,91,212 users. It was explicitly stated that the compromised data did not include the user's passwords. Additionally, the post featured a few lines of sample data,” said the report, as cited by DH.
The leaked dataset reportedly contained multiple categories of information, including payment data, grievance data, application data, and system logs. The application data alone is said to contain over 2.91 lakh records, featuring full names, complete addresses, contact details, Aadhaar, and PAN numbers—details which could potentially be exploited for identity theft or financial fraud.
Despite the serious nature of the breach, sources in the BWSSB assured that the data was safe. "The entire billing data is stored in the Data Centre maintained by the Karnataka government. The 24x7 monitoring is at a high-security level and a breach of billing data was next to impossible,” DH quoted BWSSB sources as saying.
Meanwhile, BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar acknowledged the report and stated that adequate measures would follow, noting that a case would be filed with the cybercrime police. “If a breach has indeed occurred, we will identify the root cause and involve technical experts to bolster our data security systems,” DH quoted Manohar as saying.
As part of its findings, CloudSEK recommended immediate corrective measures, including conducting a comprehensive security audit, revoking any exposed or potentially compromised credentials, and removing public access to administrative interfaces to prevent future breaches.
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PM Modi holds talks with French President Macron in Mumbai
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron to boost ties in key sectors such as trade, defence, energy and critical technologies.
Macron landed in Mumbai early this morning on a three-day visit to attend the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi and meet PM Modi.
After the talks with Modi, Macron will attend a ceremony to launch the India-France Year of Innovation.
His visit comes days after India cleared a long-pending proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets under a government-to-government framework with France.
It has been billed as one of the world's biggest military procurement programmes in recent years.
It is learnt that shoring up defence cooperation and enhancing bilateral engagement in the critical technology sector are priority areas to take forward the ties.
"Welcome to India! India looks forward to your visit and to advancing our bilateral ties to new heights. I am confident that our discussions will further strengthen cooperation across sectors and contribute to global progress," Modi said on social media earlier in the day in response to a post by Macron.
