At a time when digital transformation and cashless transaction have made things accessible for everyone, it has also, not surprisingly, driving up user data privacy concerns.
On Monday, March 29, Payment app MobiKwik came under the scanner for an alleged data leak that has exposed close to 8.2 terabytes (TB) of data, including know-you-customer (KYC) details, addresses, phone numbers, Aadhaar card data of its users on the dark web.
According to the latest reports, the personal details of 3.5 million MobiKwik users seem to have been leaked, according to independent cybersecurity researchers. The Gurugram-based fintech platform, however, denied any breach, saying its user and company data are completely safe and secure.
However, on Monday, March 29, a link from the dark web began circulating online, and several users confirmed seeing their personal details in it.
Many people also posted screenshots of the alleged MobiKwik user data, which, according to sources, was up for sale for 1.5 bitcoin which translates to about $86,000.
A note to our users. pic.twitter.com/J3WRM0Ko8v
— Bipin Preet Singh (@BipinSingh) March 30, 2021
Cashless
— Dr.Mustafa Tariq (@mustafa_tariq) March 30, 2021
#hdfcbank pic.twitter.com/HjaEkVMCP4
While the passwords were encrypted on masked in the data, the other personal details were not.
The leak was first reported in February by security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia, and even then the company had denied a breach of any sort.
The researcher, Rajaharia, had tweeted details of the leak on February 26: “11 crore Indian cardholders’ card data, including personal details and KYC soft copy (PAN, Aadhar, etc) allegedly leaked from a company’s server in India. 6 TB of KYC data and 350 GB of compressed MySQL dump”.
The number of data breaches in India has been rising over the last two years. According to the national cybersecurity agency, cyberattacks have surged from 53,117 in 2017 to 208,456 in 2018, 394,499 in 2019, and 11,58,208 in 2020.
Hence, business needs to take protective actions or regulators will step in. Increasingly, users are taking steps to control their own data.
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