CoWIN Data Leak: Delhi Police arrest man from Bihar for uploading CoWIN-related data on Telegram

The Delhi Police Special Cell's Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit made an arrest in connection with the suspected data breach of the CoWIN portal. A man from Bihar was apprehended for allegedly uploading the breached data on the messaging platform Telegram, according to ANI. The accused's mother is reportedly a health worker in Bihar. Additionally, a juvenile has also been apprehended in relation to the alleged data leak.

Last week, multiple reports emerged about a potential breach of data from the CoWIN platform, which contains information on vaccinated individuals. Just by entering an eligible phone number or Aadhaar details on a Telegram bot, the user could access user data including gender, date of birth, Aadhaar card details, address, and vaccination center information.

In response to the incident, the government investigated the data breach. The Ministry of Health assured the public that the CoWIN website maintains robust data privacy measures. The ministry dismissed reports suggesting that data could be accessed from a Telegram bot without a mobile number or Aadhaar number.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, mentioned in a tweet that the bot's accessed data appears to have originated from stolen data in databases other than CoWIN.

The CoWIN portal was launched in January 2021 as a platform built to facilitate the recording of COVID-19 vaccination program details. The platform was owned and managed by the Union Health Ministry.

Also read: CoWIN data breach: CERT-In in discussion with 11 states that developed their own databases

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