CoWIN Data Leak – Aadhaar, PAN Card Info, On Covid Portal, Made Public By Telegram

Zaheer Hussain
June 28, 2023
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On Monday, claims of a massive data breach surfaced, prompting the government to promise an investigation. The alleged breach affected all Indian citizens who had uploaded their information to the Cowin Vaccination Portal, including high-ranking political leaders. Personal information about Indian citizens, including Aadhaar and PAN card numbers, is available on the messaging platform Telegram. Opposition Leaders, including the TMC’s Saket Gokhale, Tweeted about their interactions with the Telegram Chatbot.

Why In The News?

Claims Of A Massive Data Breach Emerged On Monday With The Government Later Promising To Investigate The Matter. The Purported Breach Has Affected All Indian Citizens – Including High-Profile Political Leaders – Who Had Uploaded Their Information On The Cowin Vaccination Portal.
Personal Information Of Indian Citizens, Including Their Aadhaar Card, And PAN Card Details Are Available On Messaging Platform Telegram. The Development Was Also Flagged By Opposition Leaders Including TMC’s Saket Gokhale Who Tweeted His Interactions With The Telegram Chatbot.

What Do We Know?

The Report Said That When A Mobile Number Registered With The Cowin Portal Is Entered, The Telegram Bot Discloses The Number Of The ID Card Used For Vaccination Along With Gender, Birth Year, Name Of The Vaccination Centre, And His/Her Doses.
The Developers Of The Telegram Bot That Exposed The Sensitive Information From The Leaked Co-win Database Are Disabled Now. The Developers Of The Bot Took The Step After Manorama Broke The Story.
Government Officials Have Also Rejected The Hacking Of The Cowin App But Added They Are Probing If There Was Any Unauthorized Access To The Cowin App.

Earlier Such Cases:

In 2021, Reports Emerged That Cowin Portal Got Hacked, Resulted In The Sale Of The Database Of 15 Crore People.
However, Cyber Security Researchers Denied The Claim. In Fact, In January This Year, RS Sharma, Chief Executive Officer Of The National Health Authority Vouched For The Cowin Portal.

How Govt Responded?

The Government Has Responded To The Claims Of the Cowin Data Leak, Saying That The Reports Of A Breach Are “Mischievous In Nature”. The Government Has Also Maintained That The Data Is “Completely Safe”.
In A Press Release, The Government Said, “It Is Clarified That All Such Reports Are Without Any Basis And Mischievous In Nature. Cowin Portal Of Health Ministry Is Completely Safe With Adequate Safeguards For Data Privacy.”
“Only OTP Authentication-based Access Of Data Is Provided. All Steps Have Been Taken And Are Being Taken To Ensure the Security Of The Data In The Cowin Portal,” It Said.

CoWIN-Data-leak Download