Hacker stole data of 3 crore railway passengers: Report

After the data breach on India's top medical institution, All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS), reports are now emerging of a potential data breach in Indian Railways according to reports.

However, there has been no official confirmation on the same by the Indian Railways or any government official as of now.

According to the available report, ​​hackers have stolen the data of 30 million people who have booked railway tickets. This includes personal information which includes email id, mobile number, address, age and gender.

A hacker forum carried out this incident on 27 December, according to the report. The real identity of the hacker forum has not been revealed but it is known as 'Shadow hacker'. Allegedly, that hacker forum is selling this data of 3 crore passengers on the dark web.

The hacker group said that it has much personal information including the email and mobile numbers of 30 million people who have booked tickets in the Indian Railways.

The hacker group also claimed that he has also stolen the official email accounts of many government departments.

Earlier, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the ransomware attack on the servers of AIIMS Delhi is a conspiracy and planned by forces that are significant.

"It is clearly a conspiracy and it has been planned by forces that are pretty significant. It is a sophisticated ransomware attack. We will wait for the outcome of CERTin and NIA (National Investigation Agency) before we come to conclusion on who is behind the ransomware attack," Chandrasekhar said.

In a ransomware attack, cybercriminals lock access to data or a device and promise to unlock it after they are paid the desired ransom.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Delhi cybercrime special cell, Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Forensic Sciences University, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, and National Investigation Agency, etc. are investigating the cyber attack.

"This will not be the first ransomware attempt. It will not be the last. It is for these entities like they say in the context of terrorism, you have to be right all the time and they can be successful only one time, so we have to be on guard. We have to make sure that our systems and processes are safe and secure. Especially in the era of intensifying digitisation of our economy and of our businesses and activities," Chandrasekhar said.