Union IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has called the Telegram CoWIN data leak 'fake,' saying that there are many forces & interests in the world that want to undermine CoWIN. He also said that the data was either fake or collected from some other source
After reports and screenshots emerged showing an automated bot account on Telegram revealing personal information including the location of individuals’ most recent vaccination, people started assuming that the data was leaked from the CoWIN app.
#WATCH | Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar speaks on alleged CoWIN data breach; says, “…there are many forces & interests in the world that want to undermine CoWIN, create question marks about CoWIN. I believe that yesterday’s alleged breach of CoWIN was one more instance of… pic.twitter.com/jqjheg3Bxi
— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2023
However, on Tuesday, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar reiterated that the personal details of Indian citizens, disclosed by an automated account on Telegram, were not leaked from the CoWIN app. The information did include the location of their last Covid vaccination. CoWIN serves as the central repository for data regarding individuals who have received the Covid-19 vaccine.
Consorted effort to undermine CoWIN
Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT, stated that the country’s primary cybersecurity agency, CERT-In, conducted a review of the situation and concluded that the alleged leaked details were either falsified or obtained from an alternative source by a third-party threat actor. He alleged that there are various global entities with vested interests seeking to undermine the government’s vaccination registration portal.
“I believe that the alleged CoWIN breach yesterday was yet another attempt to target the CoWIN app,” Chandrashekhar remarked. “There are many forces & interests in the world that want to undermine CoWIN, create question marks about CoWIN,” he added
“The cybersecurity breach investigation agency is currently examining the matter. They have already indicated that the data shared by the Telegram bot did not originate from the CoWIN app. The data was either fake or obtained from collected from another source by a third-party threat actor,” he added.
Opposition leaders accuse govt of criminal negligence
Opposition parties demanded an inquiry into the claims of data breach on Monday and urged the government to take preventive action. Congress leaders accused the government of “criminal negligence” and questioned why there is a delay in enacting a data protection law.
“In its pursuit of Digital India, the government has negligently disregarded citizen privacy. The personal data of every Indian citizen who received the COVID-19 vaccination is publicly available, including my own. Who is responsible for this? Why is the government hesitating to implement a data protection law?” questioned Congress MP Karti Chidambaram.
No Basis to suggest data breach, says health ministry
The health ministry released a statement asserting that there is no basis for the reports suggesting a data breach from the CoWIN portal.
“The data can only be accessed through OTP authentication. All necessary measures have been implemented and are being undertaken to ensure the security of the data within the CoWIN portal,” the ministry stated.
“The initial report from CERT-In highlights that the Telegram bot’s backend database did not directly access the CoWIN database APIs,” the statement added.
The ministry further noted that some Twitter users have claimed that the personal data of vaccinated individuals is being accessed using a Telegram bot, an online messenger application.
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