By Zainab Shafiq 
In a shocking revelation, sensitive information belonging to 81.5 crore Indians has allegedly emerged on the dark web, raising concerns about a major data breach. The stolen data reportedly includes critical details such as Aadhaar and passport information, names, phone numbers, and both temporary and permanent addresses of millions of Indian residents.
Resecurity, a US-based cybersecurity agency, recently released a comprehensive report on this alarming breach. According to the agency’s findings, a hacker using the pseudonym ‘pwn0001’ disclosed details about the breach on Breach Forums, with the announcement made on October 9. The hacker claimed to have access to a staggering 815 million records (81.5 crore). Despite these shocking revelations, there has been no official confirmation of the data breach from the government.
Resecurity’s HUNTER (HUMINT) unit conducted an investigation and identified millions of personally identifiable information (PII) records on the Dark Web. This included Aadhaar cards linked to Indian residents, which were being offered for sale.
The stolen data set offered by ‘pwn0001’ is extensive and includes:
- Names
- Fathers’ Names
- Phone Numbers
- Alternate Numbers
- Passport Numbers
- Aadhaar Numbers
- Ages
- Genders
- Addresses
- Districts
- Pincodes
- States
Resecurity further revealed that the hacker, ‘pwn0001,’ presented spreadsheets containing fragments of Aadhaar data as proof. Upon closer inspection, Resecurity’s HUNTER team found that some of these Aadhaar Card IDs were genuine when cross-referenced using a government website designed to verify the authenticity of Aadhaar details.
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