2 teen brothers held in Bihar for CoWin data theft

TNN / Jun 23, 2023, 05:20 IST

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2 teen brothers held in Bihar for CoWin data theft
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2 teen brothers held in Bihar for CoWin data theft

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NEW DELHI: Two brothers, aged 17 and 18, were apprehended in Bihar for allegedly stealing data from CoWin, the central government’s Covid-19 portal, and uploading it on messaging app Telegram apparently to gain subscribers for their channel. The siblings accessed the data after stealing the credentials of their mother, a nurse deployed for vaccinations.

After being alerted to the Telegram post by a security establishment, Delhi Police traced the data theft to Bihar and tracked down the brothers.

TimesView

In an age when cyber thefts are common, the internal exercise to ascertain the possible data leak is welcome. It will only help create a stronger cyber safety infrastructure. In any democratic society, people have a right to know whether their private data is out in the open. Full-throated denial as a reflexive action doesn’t help.

While the cops didn't reveal the exact number of people whose protected data was stolen, it is learned that the boys accessed information related to vaccination beneficiary names, birth dates, gender, government ID numbers, unique health IDs, vaccine brands and the date and place of vaccination.
While the younger brother was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, the older one has been remanded in judicial custody after interrogation.

Brothers uploaded CoWIN data on a bot programme
Police sources said that the mother had limited access to a particular area in Bihar where she was deputed for vaccination and the stolen information pertained to that area. “Moreover, only a few Telegram subscribers accessed the data before it was flagged and restricted. The accusedwere not found to have sold any data to anyone. Their family bank accounts have been analysed,” said a police officer.
The brothers, claiming to be hackers, had uploaded the data through a bot programme, sources said. “Their mother, an auxiliary nurse midwife, was allotted an ID and password since she was engaged in Covid immunisation. She had to access details of beneficiaries,” theofficer explained.
The duo used their mother's ID and password to access the data. Both the boys then created a Telegram group, claiming to be hackers, and shared some of the data to make their channel popular and attract subscribers.
After a security agencyflagged the upload of such data on a Telegram channel, the cops analysed the IP address and technical details and conducted a raid in Bihar to apprehend the suspects.
An FIR has been registered under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

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