Telecom company Bharti Airtel on Friday denied reports that its data had been compromised after a hacker claimed to have accessed the details of its over 37.5 crore Indian customers.
“This is nothing short of a desperate attempt to tarnish Airtel’s reputation by vested interests,” the telecom company said in a statement on social media.
A handle on the social media platform X named Dark Web Informer, which claims to track posts on the dark web, brought the alleged breach to light, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets – a collection of networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorisation to access.
According to the X handle, a hacker under the alias ‘xenZen’ reportedly announced that they were putting up the database of the telecom company’s customers for sale on a hacking forum.
The hacker attempted to sell the details, which included a customer’s mobile number, date of birth, father’s name, email ID and Aadhaar ID, at a going rate of $50,000 USD (Rs 41 lakh) that had to paid in cryptocurrency or virtual assets.
The hacker claimed that the data breach took place last month, The Hindu reported. They also shared a data sample.
Bharti Airtel rejected the reports on Friday. “We have done a thorough investigation and can confirm that there has been no breach whatsoever from Airtel systems.”
Earlier, xenZen was reportedly part of another security breach that targeted a database of diplomatic passport holders maintained by the Ministry of External Affairs, The Hindu reported.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!