Man Detained in Jio Data Leak Case Wanted to Make a Search Engine

Reliance Jio also filed a police complaint alleging “unlawful access to its systems”.

It’s been alleged that the personal data of more than 100 million customers of Reliance Jio has been leaked. 

(Photo: BloombergQuint) 

The man detained by the police in Rajasthan for his alleged involvement in a major leak of user data from Reliance Jio, wanted to create a search engine by compiling data from India’s various telecom companies, police said.

Jio, run by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd, courted controversy after it was revealed that personal data of more than 100 million of its customers had been leaked to a website named ‘Magicapk.com’.

The accused, 24-year-old Imran Chhimpa, hails from Rajasthan’s Churu and has a Masters in Computer Application.

Also Read: This Website Has Leaked Details of Reliance Jio Users in India

Modus Operandi

An Indian Express report quoted a senior police officer as saying:

The accused had not made attempts to hide the digital trail or mask the server he was using. He was working out of his home.

Chhimpa “had not figured how to acquire data from other firms,” police said, adding that he gained access to a mobile application used by retailers for customer recharges to access the data. He then transferred the data to Magicapk.com via a software he made.

The data excludes sensitive information like Aadhaar details or PAN numbers, Tushar Doshi, Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police said.

By searching for the Reliance Jio number, you can view the subscriber’s name, email, SIM activation data, telecom circle and alternate number, Doshi said. “It is not that data is entirely visible there. You will get details only on the RJio number. There is a search engine on the website".

The police said on 12 July that the data breach was a case of “unauthorised access” into the company’s database and “not a theft”.

Also Read: Reliance Jio Refreshes 4G Plans With More Free Data & Validity

Chhimpa’s Detainment

Earlier, the proprietor of a local internet service provider in Sujangarh, where Chhimpa was a customer, confirmed that Chhimpa had been detained, adding he had received a query from the police earlier.

In a 5 July post on Frendz4m, an online message board, a person with Chhimpa’s Internet Protocol (IP) address and using the handle “imranchhimpa” posted a link to “magicapk.com” saying the site could provide personal user details of anyone with a Jio connection. The post said the data was obtained from original documents.

The proprietor of the local internet service provider told Reuters that police asked him for the installation address of that particular IP address, and made him accompany them to Chhimpa's home, where he was later detained.

Reliance Jio Acknowledges Systems Breach in Police Complaint

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has also filed a police complaint alleging “unlawful access to its systems”, which marks the telecom’s company’s first official acknowledgement of a systems breach.

Jio had said on 10 July that it was investigating whether personal data of of its customers had been leaked. The company said it was working with law enforcement agencies to investigate the alleged leak, which cyber security analysts say could be the first large-scale data leak from an Indian telecoms firm.

(With inputs from Reuters, PTI and Indian Express)