No Data Breach Of Airtel Subscribers, Says Spokesperson

Reports of an Airtel data breach have been made on social media claiming that the personal details of 375 million Airtel customers are being sold on the dark web.

New Delhi: Amid reports that personal details of 375 million Airtel customers are being sold on the dark web, the Indian telecom company has refuted such claims. “There has been an ongoing report alleging that Airtel customer data has been compromised. This is nothing short of a desperate attempt to tarnish Airtel’s reputation by vested interests. We have done a thorough investigation and can confirm that there has been no breach whatsoever from Airtel systems,” an Airtel spokesperson told ETV Bharat.

The spokesperson further stated that there has been some social media chatter around Airtel’s data breach due to an unauthentic data hacker claiming to have access to Airtel’s data. “The hacker has not been able to provide any proof for his claim and is using this wrongly to tarnish the brand image,” the spokesperson added.

Cyber security expert Nicholas Krassas tweeted about the Airtel data leak on social media. A hacker using the alias “xenZen”, an identity on the dark web, reportedly listed a database for sale on a dark web forum, allegedly containing sensitive information like phone numbers, email addresses and even the Aadhar number of 375 million subscribers. The asking price for this data is said to be $50,000.

“Airtel has been hacked by a China-based threat actor…Airtel's alleged breach comes just after weeks of critical BSNL data breach, which exposed 278 GB of operational data and which could be easily used to clone SIMs. While Airtel has denied the breach, there is no independent verification by the Data Protection Authority,” claimed Srinivas Kodali, researcher and hacktivist.

When contacted a senior official from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) said that the department has not received any official communication or complaint from Airtel.

“We can’t ascertain the authenticity of such social media claims over data leaks. However, we are keeping a close eye over the report,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre provides a framework and eco-system for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to deal with cybercrime in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.