In a massive data leak online, personal data of 7 million credit card and debit card holders in India has been reported to be compromised this month.?
Cybersecurity researchers warn that the data has been leaked on the dark web and is available on a public file.
A new report by Inc42 mentions that the publication has been warned by cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia of the development. Rajaharia mentions that the leaked data can be used for phishing attacks and spam messages by cybercriminals.
The researcher has shared screenshots of the data leak too. As per these, the database of the victims is available on the dark web on a public Google Drive link. It shows the personal details of cardholders, including their names, phone numbers, email addresses, names of employer firms, annual incomes, types of accounts and if they have switched on mobile alerts or not. PAN numbers for 5 Lakh cardholders is also included in the leaked database.??
The report says that the leaked data is from the period between 2010 and 2019 and is sized for a total of 2 GB online. It is easy to note how the details leaked through the public file can be used by cybercriminals to target cardholders in India through tailored phishing attempts.
An interesting observation from the list shows that there is almost nothing in common among the cardholders whose details have been leaked. The database ranges from employees of companies like Axis Bank, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Kellogg India Private Limited to those of Mckinsey and Company and others. The annual incomes of these targets also range from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 35 lakh and above.
It should be noted that while not all of the leaked data can be verified, some of it has been verified by Inc 42 itself. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is yet to respond to the matter.?
The leak is the latest in line of increased cyber crime activities this year as organisations increasingly shift to a digital only work environment. With the notorious elements on the loose, following safe practices online is the need of the hour for all those one the Internet.