Data breach incidences in India second highest globally

Data breach incidences in India were the second highest globally on account of compromise in the Aadhaar database which was exposed by a daily newspaper, according to a report by digital security firm Gemalto.

"The United States is still by far and away the most popular target for attacks, representing more than 57 per cent of global breaches and accounting for 72 per cent of all records stolen, though overall incidents are down 17 per cent over the prior half. India accounts for 37 per cent of the global breaches in terms of records compromised or stolen or revealed," the report on worldwide data breach released Monday said.

According to the latest findings of the Breach Level Index, 945 data breaches led to 4.5 billion data records being compromised worldwide in the first half of 2018 out of which over 1 billion data records have been exposed in India.

"During the first six months of 2018, almost 1 billion records were compromised in Aadhaar breach incident, including name, address and other personally identified information. This is particularly concerning, since the stolen, lost or compromised data records of only one out of 12 breaches were protected by encryption to render the information useless, a zero per cent compared to the first six months of 2017," the report said.

An email query sent to the UIDAI elicited no immediate reply.

A data breach of over 2 billion users on social media platform Facebook was ranked as top incidence globally following that Aadhaar record compromise where an anonymous service allowed anyone with Rs 500 to access all 1.2 billion Indian citizens' personal information, according to the report.

The Aadhaar custodian UIDAI had denied any breach of data but it had also filed a police complaint against the journalist Rachna Khaira and people to whom she reached out as part of her investigation.

Europe saw 36 per cent fewer incidents but a 28 per cent increase in the number of records breached indicating growing severity of attacks, according to the report.

"The United Kingdom remains the most breached country in the region," the report said.

(With inputs from agencies.)