The Great Data Robbery… Why it is a national security issue?

This is a continuation of the previous article “The Great Data Robbery in India…64 crore data sets…weaponized for the next election...”

We have seen many data breaches from Hospitals. Banks, Payment Gateways etc. Most of these are targeted at financial crimes and result in ransomware attacks or direct phishing attacks. But what has been unearthed now in Cyberabad appears different. This data heist is not limited to financial objectives.

The classification of the data into different categories is really intriguing and raises alarm. The catch has been of a person who is said to be operating through a website “InspireWebz”.

We can stumble upon www.inspirewebz.com which is a website which is marketing several “Data Extractor Softwares”. Whether the arrested person is a user of this these tools or the owner of this website is not known. But the data extractor tools marketed in this website are clearly tools that can be used to commit what a data protection law would consider as “Objectionable Extraction”.

We are aware that DPDPB 2022 considers extraction of data from publicly available data space does not require specific consent. However, systematic marketing of these tools is facilitating criminals and hence the website should be considered as part of a “Conspiracy” to commit Cyber Crimes.

From the initial indications, the person arrested by Cyberabad police could have bought all the available tools in this website and later filtered and classified the data into different categories.

The press report referred to in the earlier article lists about 109 categories besides 25 state categories.

26. Job Seekers Database40 lakhs
27. Domain Whois Database3.47 crore
28. Schools, Colleges, Universities & Education 500004.2 lakhs
29. Teachers Database5.7 lakhs
30. Advocates & Lawyers1.64 lakhs
31. Agents28000
32. Apparel & Garments65200
33. Architect & Interior Designers65000
34. Beauty Parlors, Hair Cutting Saloons & SPA70000
35. BPO Call Center Employees2.6 lakhs
36. Building Material & Requisites15500
37. Business Analyst25000
38. Business Development & Sales Professionals1.5 lakhs
39. Cab Users1.84 lakhs
40. CBSE School Email IDs18000
41. Cell Phones & Accessories Shops13600
42. CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO2 lakhs
43. Channel Sales Persons Database50000
44. Chartered Account42000
45. Chemical Pharma Companies Database39000
46. Chemists Dtababase1.23 lakhs
47. Chief Managers20800
48. Civil Engineer2.53 lakhs
49. Club Mahindra3.26 lakhs
50. Commercial & Residential Properties29000
51. Company MD, Secretatiaty & Chairmen Database5.2 lakhs
52. Company Proprietors Database3.9 lakhs
53. Computer Laptop Dealers Database17000
54. Computer, IT & Telecom Services54000
55. Consultants & Consulting Services Database2.04 lakhs
56. Contractors Database10900
57. Credit Card Holders 300000098 lakhs
58. CRM, Call Centres BPO Executives Database1.2 lakhs
59. Dealers Database20000
60. Debit Card Holders8.1 lakhs
61. Defence Force Delhi NCR Database2.55 lakhs
62. Designers Database50000
63. Digital Photography Studios Database58000
64. Dining Leisure Customers Database24000
65. D-Mat Account Holders35 lakhs
66. DTP Operators Database14000
67. Economic Analysts Database13500
68. Educational Institutes Database11100
69. Electricals Electronics Stores Database1.5 lakhs
70. Employees Delhi NCR Bank Database34000
71. Energy Power Sector Delhi NCR Database23600
72. Female Consumer Bangalore Database1.17 lakhs
73. Financial Analysts Managers Industry Database1.04 lakhs
74. Food Beverage Stores Database31000
75. Freelancers 7600076000
76. Frequent Flyer 1.60 Lac18 lakhs
77. Furniture Furnishing Business Database27000
78. Gas Petroleum Database1.03 lakhs
79. Gems Jewellery Shops Database34000
80. General Managers Database14.6 lakhs
81. Government Employes 11000011 lakhs
82. Graphic Designers Database48000
83. Gymnasiums 2400024000
84. Health Beauty Shops Business Database (1)54000
85. HNI & High Income Employee 5 Lac5 lakhs
86. Home, Garden Pets Suppliers Database29000
87. Hotels, Restuarants, Restro Bars, Outlet 2 Lac2 lakhs
88. HR – Human Resources Database38500
89. Importers Database1.06 lakhs
90. IT Companies Database39000
91. IT Professionals, Hardware Networking Working Employees Database15 lakhs
92. Jewellers Database14800
93. Lecturer Professor Database25000
94. Legal Firms Database11455
95. LIC Agents Emails Database10962
96. Logistics Management Service Providers Database87653
97. Industrial Equipments Machinery Suppliers Database52000
98. Male Gents Database22 lakhs
99. Manufacturing Companies Database1.6 lakhs
100. Metals Minerals Industries Database15850
101.MLM Leader Emails Database1.12 lakhs
102. Mobile Number Database3 crores
103.NGO Trusts Database22034
104.NRI (non Resident Indians) 1266331.26 lakhs
105.OLX 150000015 lakhs
106 Pancard Holder 150000015 lakhs
107. Photographers Database28000
108. Placement Agencies Database48300
109. Policy Bazaar Database7.8 lakhs
110. Principals Database14180
111. Printing Packaging Companies Database43408
112. Project Leader Managers Database32000
113. Purchase Procurement Heads Database47125
114. Purchase Managers Database67638
115. Real Esate Industry Database4 lakhs
116. Recruitment Agencies Database49900
117. Religares Database4.13 lakhs
118. Retail Shops 3500035000
119. Samaj Community Wise 2 Crore2 crores
120. Semi Government Industries Database19340
121. Senior Citizens 200000010.6 lakhs
122. Services Industries Database1.88 lakhs
123. Shopping Malls, Firms Shops Database81441
124. Software Engineers Database2.7 lakhs
125. Steel Steel Products Industries Database1.17 lakhs
126. Stock Broking Trading Companies Database2.06 lakhs
127. Stock Traders 7000007 lakhs
128.CBSE Students data (10th & 12th Class)30 Lakh
129.BYJUS & VEDANTU database18 lakhs
130. STUDENTS Database2 crores
131.NEET STUDENTS Database1.8 lakhs
132.9th & 10th STUDENTS Database1.5 crores
133. NRI Database1.2 lakhs
134.Facebook And Instagram Groups Database800

The classifications state wise had the following information.

State/ City WiseTotal Count
1.WEST BENGAL70 Lakh
2.UTTAR PRADESH21.39 Crore
3.TAMILNADU1.02 Crore
4.RAJASTHAN2 Crore
5.PUNJAB1.5 Crore
6.PUNE12 Lakh
7.ODISSA30 Lakh
8.NORTH EAST60 Lakh
9.MUMBAI46 Lakh
10MAHARASHTRA4.50 Crore
11.MADHYA PRADESH1.10 Crore
12.KOLKATTA46 Lakh
13.KERALA1.57 Crore
14.KARNATAKA2 Crore
15.JAMMU & KASHMIR25 Lakh
16.JAIPUR68 Lakh
17.HYDERABAD56 Lakh
18.HARYANA1 Crore
19.DELHI NCR20 Lakh
20.DELHI2.70 Crore
21.CHENNAI70 Lakh
22.BIHAR1 Crore
23.BANGLORE60 Lakh
24.ASSAM90 Lakh
25.ANDHRA PRADESH2.10 Crore
Total48.4 CR

The state-wide classification read along with the profession wise classification indicate multiple mis-use possibilities.

It could be used for all types of Cyber Crimes and also for structured AI assisted communication including sending deep fake videos to influence the free choice of the public during the next elections on the lines of what Cambridge Analytica was accused of.

It is time for data protection and cyber security community to debate how this threat should be viewed. Is it a simple cyber crime? or Cyber Terrorism?. Is it only an “Attempt” or an “Executed crime”? What are the labilities of all those who might have purchased the different packs of software? How have they used it? By this time all buyers should have been raided by NIA and records should have been collected on their activities.

Naavi

About Vijayashankar Na

Naavi is a veteran Cyber Law specialist in India and is presently working from Bangalore as an Information Assurance Consultant. Pioneered concepts such as ITA 2008 compliance, Naavi is also the founder of Cyber Law College, a virtual Cyber Law Education institution. He now has been focusing on the projects such as Secure Digital India and Cyber Insurance
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