TRAI Chief shares Aadhaar number on Twitter, hackers post personal info in reply. (2024)

India, July 30 -- In a tragicomic incident, former UniqueIdentification Authority of India ( UIDAI ) Director General, andcurrent TRAI Chairman Ram Sewak Sharma shared his Aadhaar card number onTwitter challenging users to show him one concrete example where theycan do any harm to him by using the number. Accepting the challenge,several ethical hackers returnedwith his personal information, includinghis phone number, email ID, PAN number, alternate email IDs and even hisAir India's Frequent Flyer number. The hackers didn't stopthere and deposited Re 1 in his bank account, showing that they evenmanaged to get his banking details through his Aadhaar number. Inresponse to the trolling on social media, the government said that nodata has been fetched by any hacker and the Aadhaar database is safe.

The incident started off on July 18 when when Sharma, replying to atwitter user @kingslyj, saying, "My Aadhaar number is 762177682740.Now I give this challenge to you: Show me one concrete example where youcan do any harm to me!" After he tweeted, ethical hacker ElliotAlderson, posted his phone number. The hacker also posted a photo of hiswife and daughter, his personal address, date of birth, an alternatephone number, and PAN card number. Another person @DeanOfJio tweetedSharma's alternate email ID and said his gmail ID and yahoo ID areconnected to each other. He also posted the TRAI chief's AirIndia's Frequent Flyer number and a screenshot of a chat sessionwith the airlines

A third twitter users, who goes by the name @enggdhiman, madeSharma's Fake Aadhaar card and claimed that he has uploaded it toFacebook and Amazon Cloud Services, and both of them have accepted thecard as the proof of his identity. The scenario did not end here.Another user claimed that he has ordered a OnePlus 6 smartphone fromAmazon using his address and phone number andhas made it a Cash OnDelivery order. "Please pay money accept my gift," he posted.

Meanwhile, the government has said, "No data could be fetchedby any hacker from either UIDAI or any other website using TRAI ChairmanRam Sewak Sharma's Aadhaar number which he had voluntarilydisclosed on Twitter.

The officials told ET that one hacker had tweeted that he has gotSharma's personal details by hacking Aadhaar data base- for cheappublicity. "Instead he fetched his personal details from differentsources and claimed that he got it from Aadhaar data base. He fetchedhis mobile number from NIC website. Sharma was once Secretary IT andhence head of NIC.

"They got his date of birth from Civil List of IAS Officerswhich is kept in public domain. He got his address from TRAI Websitebecause he is TRAI Chairman right now.got his email id from IIT Delhialumni portal which is also in public domain. Using his mobile numberthey got his Whatsapp and downloaded his profile photo. They clubbed allthese inputs and claimed that they have managed to breach Aadhaardatabase and get his personal details," senior government officialstold the national daily.

Legitimate or not, hackers posting personal details of an Indianbureaucrat is surely a concerning problem of the emerging digital world.Although some people might find the whole incident hilarious, there is adark undertone to it when you think about the security of the Aadhaarscheme. No data is safe andinformation about you can be revealed orusedagainst you. It is advised that people do not share sensitiveinformation in the public domain.

For the background, Ram Sewak Sharma is an Indian bureaucrat andcurrently, Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).He served as the Director General of UIDAI (2009-2013), which is anagency of the Indian government responsible for implementing the Aadhaarscheme, that aims to provide a unique identification number for allresidents of India.

In January, the UIDAI had introduced a 'Virtual ID' (VID)to safeguard the data of Aadhaar cardholders. A Virtual ID, or VID, israndomly-generated 16-digit number which can be used for authenticationinstead of the original Aadhaar number. According to the UIDAI, VID willbe a temporary and revocable number which is mapped with the Aadhaarnumber. It will not be possible to derive Aadhaar number from VID and itwill strengthen the security of the cardholders' details.

Now banks and government departments have till the end of July toupgrade their systems to process the 16-digit VID as an alternate toAadhaar numbers. The UIDAI has already begun levying a charge of 20paise per transaction for telecom and e-sign generating companies thathave not implemented the new system from its earlier deadline, that is,July 1. The authority will reverse the charges if these firms comply byJuly-end.

For more infographics please visit -https://www.digit.in/internet/trai-chief-shares-aadhar-number-on-twitter-hackers-post-personal-info-in-reply-42485.html

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission fromDigit.

Copyright [c] HT Media Ltd. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info ).