Manual soft copy shouldn’t have been with Nishant’s sr

Nagpur: Secret documents related to missiles found in the computer system of Nishant Aggarwal, engineer at BrahMos Aerospace arrested for alleged espionage, were supposed to be available only in hard copy form to personnel down the line in the organization. The data, according to anti-terrorism squad (ATS), was found in a soft copy with Nishant.
A report put up before a court by the ATS sleuths says Nishant has confessed during interrogation that he had stolen the data from his senior Alen Abraham’s computer during his tenure at Hyderabad, around four years ago.

Given its nature, parts of the document are available only in hard copy form to engineers including those of Abraham’s level, said sources.

Although a soft copy is stored, the data is maintained by a specialized department from where printouts, if needed, have to be requisitioned, said sources. Sources now say that how Nishant procured a soft copy remains a mystery. If the ATS says that during interrogation Nishant confessed he had copied it from Abraham’s computer, even the senior officer was not supposed to save it in soft copy form, said sources.

Sources aware of the development said the papers ATS sleuths have referred to are a draft copy of the user manual of BrahMos missiles supplied to the Indian Navy. The draft copy is different from the final copies distributed to the officials. Each of the final copy is marked to the official whom it is supplied.

The papers, however, may not reveal much of a crucial information of the missile system. Even if it has gone into the enemy’s hands, it is not possible to replicate the missile by referring to it, said a source.

In simpler words it is merely a user’s guide and the engineers working at BrahMos generally refer it to understand the parts and the nomenclature used. The papers are needed from time-to-time by the engineers for reference during the production process. For this purpose a relevant printout can be drawn from the department, but not a soft copy.

“Finding a hard copy with any official can still be a possibility. However, anyone being able to extract a soft copy remains a major concern,” said a source.

The papers presented in the court along with the FIR by the Uttar Pradesh ATS say Nishant had named Abraham from whose computer the data was stolen.

Abraham quit the organization over a month ago to leave for Canada to pursue a research project. The ATS report also names 10 others who, Nishant said, also had other such information in their personal devices.

Sources say the user manual which the ATS is talking about would be at least a decade old. Nishant on the other hand had joined the organization in 2014. However, sometime in 2011, soft copies related to the manuals were also distributed in the organization, which is not allowed in the organization. A software which prevents copying of the data was put in place sometime in 2012.