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HomeIndiaNagpur unit making military weapons hit by hackers, says cybersecurity firm —...

Nagpur unit making military weapons hit by hackers, says cybersecurity firm — ‘data up for sale’

Nagpur-based Solar Industries India Limited yet to confirm the attack. Hacker group BlackCat has taken responsibility and also reportedly invited bids for firm's info.

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New Delhi: A Nagpur company which makes weapons for the Indian military has faced a cyberattack and now the company’s sensitive data is online for sale. While there is no official word from the firm, Solar Industries India Limited, the breach was confirmed by a researcher at Bengaluru-based cybersecurity firm CloudSEK which keeps an eye on cybersecurity incidents.

“This leaked information poses a threat to the confidentiality of the weaponry used by the Indian military which can be misused by motivated adversaries for gaining a strategic advantage against India,” the CloudSEK researcher told ThePrint.

 Details of the attack have appeared on security news blogs as well.

The CloudSEK researcher said the attack had taken place on Republic Day. Hacker group ‘ALPHV’ or BlackCat, that uses ransomware to hack, took responsibility for the attack. On its blog, the group claimed to have “breached the company infrastructure and to have stolen 2TB of data, including secret military data related to weapons production.”

The blog contained samples of documents taken from Solar Industries India Limited’s computers. “Based on the samples shared by the ransomware group, it seems like their claims of having access to internal documents are legitimate,” the CloudSEK researcher told ThePrint.

When ThePrint asked if the vulnerability is not yet fixed, the CloudSEK researcher said, “This can only be verified by the company based on an audit of their internal networks and systems. However, as posted on ALPHV’s blog, the company did not get in touch with them within the specified time. Hence, the leaked data has been put up for sale.”


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Sensitive data out

The information hacked by the group reportedly  includes personal information of employees, customer information; details of armament supply chains; blueprints and engineering documentation of the weapons; information about Solar Industries India partners; government documents revealing details of cooperation; records from all production cameras; details of warhead composition and engineering documentation; audits and reports of flaws and vulnerabilities in the company’s products, and contracts with customers. The hacker group also invited bids for the information within 24 hours of the publication of its blog.

The CloudSEK researcher added this can be considered a “serious attack targeting India’s critical infrastructure.”

However, cybersecurity researcher Sunny Nehra said, “I would not like to comment on deep insights or analysis on this exact incident, for it being a sensitive issue but such cyberattacks are growing. The lack of proper vulnerability assessments, security audits, ISMSs (information security management system),  threat monitoring services, and cyber training of employees in the organisations are the main causes of rise in such cyberattacks.”

“As can be seen from the data samples that even the live CCTV pictures are there which raises questions on the ISMS of the company, that is, who all were authorised the camera permissions. The access control policies are the main part of an ISMS. The same goes for other data too here.”

ThePrint emailed Solar Industries to confirm the cyberattack, but received no response. This report will be updated once the firm responds.

ThePrint called the company on the phone number given on its website. The call was transferred to a man who did not wish to share his name but said the operations were continuing as usual. He took down this reporter’s details to share it with another official, but no further response or call was received from Solar Industries.

Solar Industries is a listed company founded in 1995 and is described as a firm with “the world’s largest packaged explosives manufacturing facility at a single location in Nagpur India”.

ThePrint has emailed Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the country’s nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats, and its current Director General Dr Sanjay Bahl for comment and to confirm the cyberattack. This copy will be updated when their response is received.

(Edited by Smriti Sinha)


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