· Indian cyber security agencies are tracking a massive leak of data from at least 16 online platforms — websites as well as apps — several of which are widely used by Indians.
· The National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT), in collaboration with global cyber intelligence agencies, are currently trying to gauge the extent of the damage.
· It is next to impossible to estimate the number of users from any particular country or region, as such data is not made available to law enforcement agencies. Further, not all the personal details entered by users are always authentic.
· The leak was first flagged by news websites that track cyber security and cyber crime, after they noticed that accounts of users of several online platforms were on sale on the dark web.
· Further investigation reportedly revealed that details of over 600 million accounts stolen from 16 portals were on sale, with payment being accepted in bitcoins.
· The database affected primarily stores all website users’ public profiles, login data, birthdays of admin accounts, and information about password protection processes at the time (including the password salt). This incident does not involve first or last names, credit card data, addresses, or phone numbers.
· Apart from Dubsmash, Armor Game and Coffee Meets Bagel, other portals reportedly affected include MyFitnessPal, MyHeritage, ShareThis, HauteLook, Animoto, EyeEm, 8fit, Whitepages, Fotolog, 500px, BookMate, Artsy and DataCamp.
· Cyber security agencies have urged users to immediately update their passwords not only on the compromised portals but on every portal in use by them to prevent a further breach of information.
Source : The Hindu
07.03.2019