The Centre on Thursday said that it has blocked several websites that were found to be exposing personal identifiable information, including Aadhaar and permanent account number details, of Indian citizens.
This followed an analysis of the websites by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team that showed certain security flaws in the websites, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said. This emergency response team, which comes under the ministry, deals with cyber security incidents.
The statement did not mention the websites that were blocked.
“This has been taken up seriously as the government accords highest priority to safe cyber security practices and protection of personal data,” the statement said.
It added: “The concerned websites owners have been provided guidance about the actions to be taken at their end for hardening the ICT [Information and Communication Technologies] infrastructures and fixing the vulnerabilities.”
The ministry also said that the Unique Identification Authority of India has filed a complaint with the police about the violation of Section 29(4) of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which pertains to the public display of Aadhaar details.
Individuals who suffered any damage on account of their Aadhaar on PAN details being leaked could seek compensation through state-appointed adjudicating officers under the Information Technology Act. “The IT secretaries of the states are empowered as Adjudicating Officers under the IT Act,” the statement said.
In July, United States-based technology firm IBM said in a report that the average cost incurred because of data breaches in India reached an all-time high of Rs 19.5 crore in 2024.
A data breach allows unauthorised parties to access sensitive information, including personal and corporate details.
The study by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team came days after the Centre confirmed that there had been a data breach in the systems of state-owned telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in May.
In June, Athenian Tech, a London-based cyber security company, said in a report that a substantial amount of sensitive data was leaked, including International Mobile Subscriber Identity numbers, SIM card information, and Home Location Register details.
The data was “critical” as it enabled hackers to possibly gain access to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s networks and clone users’ SIM cards, the report added.
Earlier this year, a report said that a total of 53 lakh Indian online accounts faced data breaches in 2023.
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