Website Claims CoWIN Data of 150 Million Users Is Available for $800; Government Denies
Jun. 11, 2021The news of a data breach of theCoWIN portalhas been doing the rounds on the internet since yesterday, and it claims to have leaked the personal data of 150 million people on the dark web. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has now refuted the claim and has started an investigation on the matter.
The alleged CoWIN data leak includes name, phone number, Aadhaar ID, GPS, location, and state of citizens. However, in apress statement, the Indian government said that the reports of the CoWIN platform getting hacked are unfounded. In addition, the Computer Emergency Response Team of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MietY) has started an investigation on the claims.
“We wish to state that Co-WIN stores all the vaccination data in a safe and secure digital environment. No Co-WIN data is shared with any entity outside the Co-WIN environment. The data being claimed as having been leaked such as geo-location of beneficiaries, is not even collected at Co-WIN,”said Dr. RS Sharma, Chairman of the Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration.
[Alert]#CowinPortalNot Hacked!! Some Fake#DarkwebLeakMarketare claiming to sell data of 150 Million COVID19 Vaccinated People of India. It’s completely fake. It’s a Bitcoin Scam. Don’t Trust. Check Screenshots. They are listing fake leaks.#Infosec@journoprasoon@ETtechpic.twitter.com/c39IGDT4dz
From what it looks like, the COWIN data leak is likely a scam. We will have to wait to see if the government’s investigation offers more clarity in the coming days.
Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.
