Major Aadhaar data leak plugged: French security researcher

The Indian cyber security machinery, in collaboration with a self-proclaimed anonymous French security researcher who has been vocal about data security through his Twitter account, claimed to have plugged a major data leak over the course of the last nine days.

The researcher, who goes by the display name Elliot Alderson on Twitter, had on March 10 tweeted that two “Indian governmental websites” were leaking “300,000 and 5,000 documents IDs including Aadhaar cards.”

“Contact me by DM for the details and to give me the opportunity to disclose the issue responsibly. As personal information are at risk, you have 1 week. Regards. Your worst nightmare,” he tweeted.

Highly placed sources said the matter was discussed at the highest levels of the Indian government, after which contact was established with Alderson to begin a top secret operation to identify and plug the leaks.

On Monday, Alderson once again tweeted saying, “Thanks to all the people involved, the issue has been fixed and the personal documents of 305,000 has been secured.” Alderson has been critical of Aadhaar, saying it is a security risk to store all the personal details of Indians in a common server.