Chinese Hackers Steal DRDO Data: Biggest Security Breach in The Indian Defense Establishment

The official website of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been breached by Chinese hackers. Mumbai newspaper thousands of top secret files related to Cabinet Committee, on Security, have been stolen and posted on a server in Guangdong, reports Mumbai newspaper, DNA.

Apparently this the biggest security breach in the Indian defense establishment, until now.

The breach was reportedly discovered in the first week of this month, when officials from India's technical intelligence wing, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), along with private Indian cyber security experts cracked open a file called "army cyber policy". The file was found attacked to hacked email accounts of senior DRDO officials that quickly spread through the system in a matter of seconds. NTRO found that the sensitive files stolen from the infected systems, were being uploaded on a server in Guangdong, China.

Indian cyber security experts have found Thousands of top secret CCS files, and other documents related to surface-to-air missile and radar programmes from DRDL, a DRDO lab based in Hyderabad, among many other establishments. Even the e-tickets of DRDO scientists who had travelled to Delhi in February were found on the server.

Intelligence officials also discovered documents of deals struck between DRDO and Bharat Dyamics Ltd, a defense PSU which makes strategic missiles and components.

Other recovered files related to price negotiations with MBDA, a French missile manufacturing company.

This is the first time, Indian cyber intelligence team has successfully tracked the hacking location.

The Chinese attack is believed to be officially sponsored. Also, apart from DRDO files, sensitive data belonging to South Korea, Russia, and the United States were also found on the Chinese server. The server is suspected to be used for a specific purpose.