UIDAI says TRAI chief’s Aadhaar number did not lead to hacking of his personal info

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jul 30, 2018 : While TRAI chief RS Sharma and the tech-savvy Twitter users argue over the risk of sharing Aadhaar number in public, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has said that Aadhaar is very secure.

 

"Aadhaar database is totally safe and has proven its security robustness over last eight years," the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said on Sunday, even as it refuted reports that claimed the TRAI chief’s personal information was hacked after he posted his Aadhaar number on social media and asked if it can be used to harm him. "This so-called ’hacked’ information was already available in public domain as he has been a public servant for decades and was easily available on Google and various other sites without Aadhaar number," the UIDAI said, adding that all such claims were a "motivated attempt to malign the authority behind the Aadhaar program."

The TRAI Chairman RS Sharma had published his 12-digit unique Aadhaar number on Twitter on Saturday apparently to prove a point: that getting a hold of someone’s Aadhaar number isn’t enough to cause him or her any harm. It must be noted that the UIDAI explicitly states that Aadhaar number should not be shared on social media sites or in public, and RS Sharma has been the founding CEO of the authority.

Sharma’s twitter dare did not seemingly sit well with many Twitter users, including French security researcher Elliot Alderson, who then set out to dig vulnerabilities in Aadhaar’s system based on the information provided by RS Sharma.

Soon after, the micro-blogging website was flooded with people -- hackers and non-hackers -- posting private details of Sharma although it isn’t clear how many of these were found because he gave out his Aadhaar number in public, or if the information in question was so readily available and openly shared with the world because RS Sharna happens to be a government official and most of the details unearthed post the Twitter dare were already out in the open. The UIDAI says it was the latter.

We’re talking about his mobile number(s), WhatsApp display picture, gmail and yahoo addresses, physical address, date of birth, and even his frequent flyer number. Sharma’s multiple bank account numbers have been also made public post the incident.

In defence, the UIDAI said that Sharma’s mobile number was already available on the NIC website as he was once secretary, information and technology. Similarly, his date of birth was available in the civil list of IAS officers kept in public domain and his address was on the TRAI website as he is currently the TRAI chairman.


courtesy:yahoo