Leaked data is not ours, claims IRCTC -Governance Now

Leaked data is not ours, claims IRCTC

"Our data is not vulnerable to any misuse... Our data is safe and secure,” says AK Manocha, CMD, IRCTC

Taru Bhatia | May 6, 2016 | New Delhi

#data leak #Indian Railways #IRCTC

Screenshot of IRCTC website

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rebuked the allegations of the Maharashtra cyber crime cell regarding the leak of user profile data of at least one crore people from its website. The IRCTC clarified that the data allegedly leaked did not belong to their website.

“Our data is not vulnerable to any misuse. I am 99 percent certain that the data which the Maharashtra police claimed of getting leaked from the IRCTC website is not ours. Our data is safe and secure,” said AK Manocha, CMD, IRCTC, at a press conference held on Thursday.

However, he said, there is a possibility that 20 percent data from other websites linked to IRCTC, like of hotels booking, taxi booking, food ordering website etc., was leaked.

However, the data which could have possibly leaked did not contain any sensitive information like bank details, Aadhaar number or pan card, Manocha assured.

“We have 48 million registered users out of which 38 million are active users. However, we have only 1-2 lakh of pan card details of the users. We do not ask our users to share their sensitive data,” said Manocha.

IRCTC claimed that in the past no such incidents of major hacking have been reported. “Minor attacks occur every day on the railways website. But our security layers are developed in such a way that all such attacks are terminated before they enter our system,” said managing director, Sanjay Das.

Before the allegations of hacking were reported, the website went through a three-layer security test, Das added.

Also, to counter any future leakage of data from the IRCTC website, the railways is planning to set up a security audit trail. The trail will ensure that only authorised people can access data on the website.

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