Hacker claims to have breached India's eMigrate labor portal
A hacker has reportedly infiltrated the Indian government's eMigrate portal, a platform designed to aid the country's blue-collar workforce in legally emigrating overseas. The hacker claims to be selling an extensive database linked to the portal. A small portion of this data, including the personal details of registered individuals, was published on a known cybercrime forum. TechCrunch confirmed some of the published data as genuine. The method and timing of this alleged breach remain undisclosed.
Data breach includes government ambassador's information
Among the leaked data was information pertaining to an Indian government foreign ambassador. The details matched publicly available information about the ambassador. The hacker claims to have at least 200,000 internal and registered user entries from the alleged breach.
Indian authorities respond to eMigrate portal breach
India's computer emergency response team (CERT-In) is reportedly "in [the] process of taking appropriate action with the concerned authority" following the alleged data breach. The eMigrate portal, at the time of publication, stated that approximately half a million people were granted emigration clearance in 2023. India's Ministry of External Affairs has yet to respond regarding the incident, according to TechCrunch.
Recent cybersecurity incidents plague Indian government
This alleged breach is part of a series of recent cybersecurity incidents impacting the Indian government. Earlier this year, TechCrunch reported on a data leak affecting the government's cloud service, exposing sensitive citizen information. Thereafter, it was discovered that scammers had planted online betting ads on Indian government websites, further highlighting the ongoing cybersecurity challenges faced by the authorities.
