Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has reportedly experienced a significant data breach, with the responsible threat actor claiming to have acquired sensitive user and operational data. The government-owned telecom provider's servers were attacked, resulting in the hackers obtaining SIM card details, home location register data, and critical security keys. This stolen data could potentially be used for criminal activities such as SIM card cloning, identity theft, and extortion.

According to a report by digital risk management firm Athenian Tech, cited by News18, the cyberattack was carried out by a threat actor using the dark web forum username “kiberphant0m”. It remains unclear if the attack was executed by an individual or a group of hackers.

The report states that approximately 278GB of data from BSNL's telecom operations was compromised. This data includes not only user information but also server snapshots that could be exploited for further attacks, posing severe security risks. The threat actor claims to have obtained critical details such as International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers, SIM card details, PIN codes, authentication keys, and snapshots of BSNL's SOLARIS servers.

The hacker has reportedly offered the stolen data for sale at $5,000 (roughly Rs. 4.18 lakh). Discussions on the dark web forum suggest potential misuse of the data for activities like SIM cloning, identity theft, and extortion.

Kanishk Gaur, CEO of Athenian Tech, explained that while the specific vulnerabilities exploited by “kiberphant0m” are not publicly disclosed, access to critical systems such as the Home Location Register (HLR) and SOLARIS server snapshots indicates a deep penetration. This likely involved exploiting software vulnerabilities or sophisticated social engineering techniques. The server snapshots suggest possible exploitation of known vulnerabilities within BSNL's server infrastructure, highlighting the need for rigorous patch management and security updates.

The alleged data breach poses a serious threat to millions of BSNL users whose sensitive information may have been compromised. Notably, BSNL experienced a similar data breach in December 2023. Gadgets 360 has reached out to BSNL for a comment and will update the story once a response is received.