Yes, you read it! UIDAI’s Aadhar software is hacked. According to experts, a software patch that disables the critical security feature of the Aadhar enrolment has been compromised and personal data of billions of enrolled Indian citizens are no longer safe.
The patch, experts say, is available for as little as 2,500, which allows individuals located anywhere in the world to generate the unique 12-digit Aadhar number, the Quint reported.
The shocking revelations first published in Huff Post dismisses the Central government and UIDAI’s claims of Aadhar software being safe and protected within the walls.
Though there have been many instances where Aadhar leak reports circulated across the nation, the ruling government never paid heed to the seriousness of the issue where the Aadhar details can possibly be compromised risking the details of billions of citizens.
The experts say the patch is as easy as gaining access to one of the many WhatsApp groups and as simple as “installing the enrolment software on a PC.”
So why exactly is this Breach ‘BIG’
Experts who have analysed the software patch have highlighted few damages that can possibly take place:
The patch, experts say, allows a user, located anywhere in the world, to completely bypass the biometric authentication of enrolment operators enabling the individual user to generate unique Aadhaar numbers independently.
This can be easily done because the patch disables the enrolment software’s GPS feature.
Secondly, the patch also makes spoofing the iris-scanning easier, allowing the user to use a photograph to scan the iris rather than requiring user’s physical presence.
This kind of data breach could harm the database of nearly the entire Indian population if only the ruling party had given it thought before implementing it in India.
And what’s worse is this Central Repository Database is also seeded organically and inorganically with a host of other databases such as banks, mobile service providers and health records among others.
Government Position on Aadhaar Busted
This exposes the truth of Aadhar database as claimed by the ruling party and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, CEO of UIDAI Ajay Bhushan Pandey and more recently TRAI Chairman RS Sharma who have all claimed that UIDAI database is safe and secure.
They also confirmed that the biometric data – fingerprints and iris – have not been compromised.