Systems breach: Mumbai cops register case after textile major's 'confidential data' is wiped out

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A case was registered after "confidential data" of textile major Welspun Living Limited was allegedly wiped out after its systems were subjected to an unauthorised entry, a Mumbai police official said on Friday, reported news agency PTI.

The incident, in which data, daily operation reports and the firm's dashboard have been wiped out, took place between 8pm and 8:50 pm on January 17 this year, the official said, reported PTI.

"An unidentified person gained access to the system by logging into email id of the company. The access was made from a Hyderabad based IP address. The breach was found when the firm's assistant general manager of IT logged into the system on January 18 from its Telangana office. He then alerted the firm's IT team in Mumbai," the official told PTI.

"The company alerted Mumbai police on February 13. On Thursday, a assistant VP of the company approached N M Joshi Marg police station, after which a case was registered. Confidential data residing in Power BI tool software was wiped out. It included the company's dashboard and reports of daily operations," the official told PTI.

However, care was taken to ensure the said data could never be recovered by anybody, the police official said.

In another case, the police have recovered Rs 82.55 lakh that a prominent south Mumbai-based international school lost in a 'man in the middle' online attack, an official has said, reported PTI.

A 'man in the middle' (MITM) attack is one in which the attacker secretly intercepts and relays messages between two parties who believe they are communicating with each other.

"The online fraud took place between February 23 and March 16 when the school started the process to procure material to build a cafeteria. The school gave the contract to a UAE-based firm, which sent its bank details as part of the deal," the official from Mumbai police's cyber cell said on Thursday, reported PTI.

"An unidentified person created a similar ID and provided details of a US-based bank. Assuming the email was sent from the UAE-based firm, the school transferred Rs 87.26 lakh. Soon the school realised something was amiss and lodged a complaint with the Central Region Cyber police station," he said, reported PTI.

A case was registered against an unidentified person under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act and the nodal officer of the bank was contacted, which led to the recovery of Rs 82.55 lakh, the official said.

"Citizens and entities must upgrade their systems from time to time to avoid such attacks. Email IDs etc must be checked and re-checked before such deals are transacted," he added, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)