Massive Data Breach in Tamil Nadu: 600,000 Migrant Workersβ Data Allegedly Leaked on Dark Web
7 June 2024 at 01:27
![Tamil Nadu Migrant Workers](../themes/icons/grey.gif)
Why Migrant Workers Flock to Tamil Nadu for Employment?
Tamil Nadu is one of the most industrialized states in India and is the countryβs major hub for automobile manufacturing, textiles, agritech, and electronics parts and equipment. Owing to huge demand for workers in these sectors, which offer better salaries and continuous employment, laborers from other states tend to migrate to Tamil Nadu. Though the exact number of migrant workers currently working in the State is unknown, the number of workers registered on the Labor Departmentβs portal as of March 2023 is 600,000.Portal to Track Migrant Workers in Tamil Nadu Allegedly Hacked
To keep track of the influx of migrant workers into the state and to ensure that they are provided with proper facilities, the Tamil Nadu Government launched a portal, http://labour.tn.gov.in/ism, in June 2023. Local entrepreneurs who employed these workers in shops, commercial establishments, hotels, restaurants, agriculture, schools, colleges, local bodies, and motor establishments were asked to create a login ID, submit details like a registration certificate, license number issued by the Labor Department, and fill in details about the migrant workers, such as their name, mobile number, date of birth, bank account details, address, and educational qualifications. [caption id="attachment_75460" align="alignnone" width="1920"]![Tamil Nadu Migrant Workers](../themes/icons/grey.gif)
Decoding Tamil Nadu Migrant Workers Data Breach
Thread Actor Pills on BreachForums has allegedly carried out a data breach on the above portal, which, at the time of writing this article, continues to remain inactive. According to the information posted by the threat actor, Pills is selling the full database of laborers, that includes a list of registered users and applications. The price quoted by the TA for selling the database is, however, not clear. A closer inspection on the sample data shared by the threat actor revealed that there are 2,356,430 rows of applications, 101,446 rows of contractors and 66,917 rows of registered users.![Tamil Nadu Migrant Workers](../themes/icons/grey.gif)