Aadhaar details leaked after TRAI chief throws breach challenge

July 28, 2018

New Delhi: Alleged personal details of Indias telecom watchdog chief R.S. Sharma were leaked on Saturday after the TRAI chairman threw a challenge and tweeted his 12-digit Aadhaar asking if it had made him vulnerable to any security risk.

A French security expert, who goes by the nickname Elliot Alderson and uses twitter handle @fs0c131y, in a series of tweets caused ripples on the social media, leaking “personal address, DoB, your alternate phone number” and explaining to Sharma, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman, how risky it was to make the Aadhaar number public.

“People managed to get your personal address, DoB and your alternate phone number. I stop here, I hope you will understand why make your Aadhaar number public is not a good idea,” Alderson wrote.

Sharma, a known defender of Aadhaar, has been maintaining that the unique ID does not violate privacy and the government reserved a right to create such a database of residents since it gives subsidies on state-run welfare schemes.

Amid a debate on privacy concerns, which has also reached the Supreme Court, activists and people in general fear that the 12-digit biometric number was harmful to citizen’s privacy.

“My Aadhaar number is 7621 7768 2740. Now I give this challenge to you: Show me one concrete example where you can do any harm to me,” tweeted Sharma, whose tenure ends on August 9.

A twitter user had earlier asked Sharma to “walk your talk” after the TRAI chief tweeted his interview with an online portal in which he strongly defended Aadhaar and rejected apprehensions that one billion Aadhaar accounts were vulnerable.

He said there had not been a single instance of data being breached and had there been one, the entire Aadhaar database would have been vulnerable.

Within hours of tweeting his Aadhaar number, Anderson replied to Sharma: “The phone number linked to this #Aadhaar number is 9958587977.

“According to an official @nicmeity circular, this phone number is the number of your secretary,” Anderson wrote and posted a link to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology circular.

The security researched also posted a picture of Sharma with a portion of it blackened. “I supposed this is your wife or daughter next to you.”

Anderson, who is known to have revealed security loopholes in the Aadhaar data system, also posted screenshots of Sharma’s leaked details with key areas blackened and hidden.

One of the screenshots even carried his PAN details. But that was also hidden.
(IANS)

Air India acquires first Airbus A350-900 through finance lease

New Delhi: Air India on Friday said that it has acquired India’s first Airbus A350-900 aircraft through a finance lease transaction with HSBC. According to airline officials, the transaction makes...

Canada reports cyber attacks from Indian hackers

Toronto: With Canada-India relations worsening after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June, various...

Guterres links Pakistan floods to ‘climate chaos’, makes appeal for aid

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has linked the devastating floods last year in Pakistan to “climate chaos” spurred by greenhouse gas emissions to make his case for aid to...

UP man beaten for wearing skull cap

Meerut (UP): A young man was allegedly thrashed by a group of people here for wearing a skull cap in a college campus where he had gone to deposit his...

First Saudi ambassador to Palestine arrives in West Bank

Ramallah: The first Saudi Ambassador to Palestine, Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, arrived in the West Bank, media reported. Leading an official delegation, Al-Sudairi, the non-resident ambassador to Palestine and non-resident...

Allahabad HC asks UP govt to decide on sex change issue by Oct 18

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the Uttar Pradesh government not framing guidelines as per the 2014 Supreme Court judgment that recognised transgender individuals as the ‘third...

Nepal says it’s against Taiwan’s ‘independence’

Kathmandu: Echoing China's stance, Nepal on Tuesday said that it was against the “independence" of Taiwan. The Nepali side reiterated its firm commitment to the One-China principle, according to the...

Fresh spell of heavy rainfall likely over East India from Sep 29: IMD

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday said that conditions are becoming favourable for further withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon from some more parts of northwest and adjoining western India...

BRS warns of southern uprise over delimitation on basis of population

Hyderabad: There will be a southern uprise if the representation of South Indians comes down in Parliament due to proposed delimitation on the basis of population, warned Bharat Rashtra Samithi...

INDIA bloc doesn’t want a Muslim face to emerge in national politics: AIUDF

Guwahati: Days after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi dismissed possibilities of forging an alliance with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam, the party has alleged that the INDIA...

Haryana Police yet to get Monu Manesar’s custody due to security reason

Gurugram: Due to a lack of security by the Rajasthan Police to guard Monu Manesar from Rajasthan to Gurugram, the Haryana Police is yet to get custody of the prime...

Twist in B’luru love jihad case, woman techie enacted drama as boyfriend dumped her, say police

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru love jihad case alleged by a woman techie against her former boyfriend, also a software engineer from Jammu and Kashmir, turned out to be a drama enacted...

Read Previous

37 killed in UP rains in two days

Read Next

Nation– We’re ready, officials tell Kejriwal as he reviews flood preparedness

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com