Massive Data Breach Exposes Sensitive Information of Indian Law Enforcement Officials

Recently, a significant data breach compromised the personal information of thousands of law enforcement officials and police officer applicants in India. Discovered by security researcher Jeremiah Fowler, the breach exposed sensitive details such as fingerprints, facial scans, signatures, and descriptions of tattoos and scars. Alarmingly, around the same time, cybercriminals advertised the sale of similar biometric data on Telegram. 

The breach was traced to an exposed web server linked to ThoughtGreen Technologies, an IT firm with offices in India, Australia, and the United States. Fowler found nearly 500 gigabytes of data, encompassing 1.6 million documents dating from 2021 to early April. This data included personal information about various professionals, including teachers, railway workers, and law enforcement officials. Among the documents were birth certificates, diplomas, and job applications. 

Although the server has been secured, the incident highlights the risks of collecting and storing biometric data and the potential misuse if leaked.

“You can change your name, you can change your bank information, but you can’t change your actual biometrics,” Fowler noted. This data, if accessed by cybercriminals, poses a long-term risk, especially for individuals in sensitive law enforcement roles.

Prateek Waghre, executive director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, emphasized the extensive biometric data collection in India and the heightened security risks for law enforcement personnel. 

This article has been indexed from CySecurity News – Latest Information Security and Hacking Incidents

Read the original article:

Massive Data Breach Exposes Sensitive Information of Indian Law Enforcement Officials