Trai chairman RS Sharma

BENGALURU: Ethical hackers on Sunday claimed to have the bank account details of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman R S Sharma and posted the same on Twitter. Users also posted screenshots of sending Re 1 to Sharma via the Aadhaar-Enabled Payment Service using apps like BHIM and Paytm, and through IMPS. They also posted the transaction IDs.

This is a fallout of the chairman's move to post his Aadhaar number, 7621 7768 2740, on Saturday and challenging Aadhaar critics to do him harm if they could. TOI could not independently confirm any of Sharma's data.

On Sunday, ethical hackers - including Elliot Alderson, Pushpendra Singh, Kanishk Sajnani, Anivar Arvind, and Karan Saini - pointed out that nearly 14 items had been leaked so far. This includes Sharma's mobile numbers, residential address, date of birth, PAN number, voter ID number, telecom operator, phone model, and Air India frequent flyer ID.

They also claimed to have his bank account number and IFSC code for five other accounts - in PNB, Bank of India, SBI (joint account), Kotak Mahindra and ICICI Bank. Anivar Aravind and a few others sent Re 1 to his Bank of India account via AEPS. Twitter users cautioned the chairman that the ability to send money to him without his consent could expose him to blackmail, money laundering and other dangers.

Hackers also posted his demat account details, his payment history for a three-year subscription to a right-wing website with his SBI debit card, usage of Aadhaar card for sale of organic goods by Leela Dhar Organics of Hari Sewak Sharma on July 2, 2018.

Ethical hackers are those who hack into computer networks to test or evaluate their security, rather than with malicious or criminal intent. Aadhaar issuing body UIDAI on Sunday reiterated that Aadhaar was safe and secure.

UIDAI said that hackers had obtained this information on R S Sharma by Googling him as he was a long-standing public servant. This was shortly after Pushpendra Singh, who is also a blockchain developer, posted screenshots of obtaining Sharma’s Punjab National Bank account number, IFSC code, MICR code and other details from the UIDAI database. TOI could not independently confirm any of Sharma’s data.

Ethical hackers also claimed to have his bank account number and IFSC code for five other bank accounts. Anivar Aravind and a few others sent Re 1 to his Bank of India account via AEPS. Hackers also posted his Yahoo email address, demat account details, his payment history for a three-year subscription to a right-wing website with his SBI debit card, usage of Aadhaar card for sale of organic goods by Leela Dhar Organics of Hari Sewak Sharma on July 2, 2018.

French security expert Elliot Alderson advised Sharma to change his Gmail password as it had been hacked. To which Sharma tweeted: “No. Why should I change? It is working fine! Even if you hack, it is not because of Aadhaar!”

More Aadhaar backers post ID number online

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman R S Sharma’s Twitter challenge has now escalated into a Twitter war between those who are for Aadhaar and those against it. On Sunday, following Sharma’s footsteps, several Aadhaar supporters posted their Aadhaar numbers online and dared hackers to harm them.

The TRAI chairman retweeted the tweets from his followers such as Amarendra Joshi (also followed by Narendra Modi’s official handle) who put out their Aadhaar numbers. Other users like VG, Amit Kumar and a dozen others posted their Aadhaar details and mobile numbers. Sharma retweeted one Bharath Vasi’s tweet: “A tight slap to all the hyper active privacy paranoids!! The self-proclaimed hackers, who are showing his mobile, PAN numbers & address data, can’t they hack such info without knowing his Aadhaar? Surly they can obtain! Then why blame #Aadhaar?”

Several anti-Aadhaar tweets pointed out that those exposing the data are ethical hackers and cannot use it to harm Sharma.

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