In the first part of our series, we disclosed how an exclusive report by The Cyber Express played a pivotal role in the arrest of the hacker responsible for the Hawk Eye app data breach in India. In this second article, we highlight the methods employed by the police to track down the hacker, explore his motives, and discuss the future direction of the investigation.

Hawk Eye App Data Breach: Who is the hacker?

The breach of the Hawk Eye App, a crime reporting forum for citizens in the Indian state of Telangana, was unearthed after a threat actor, who goes by the name “Adm1nFr1end”, offered the personal data of over 200,000 citizens for sale on the BreachForums online hacker site. The hacker shared sample data containing names, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and location coordinates. Soon after The Cyber Express reported the incident on May 31, the Telangana Police registered a suo moto case just days later on June 4. In its First Information Report (FIR), a written document prepared by the police in India to detail a cognizable offense, the cops in Telangana acknowledged The Cyber Express report and confirmed that the app had been breached.  Meanwhile, the hacker “Adm1nFr1end” continued his spree of cyberattacks and on June 5, breached another app of the Telangana Police called TSCOP which had data of police officers, criminals and gun license holders. The police quickly got into the act and a team of investigators from the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TG-CSB) tracked down the accused hacker in Greater Noida, a prominent suburb close to the nation’s capital, New Delhi.  The accused was identified as Jatin Kumar, a 20-year-old undergraduate student pursuing BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications). 

Hacker Planned Cyberattacks on More Indian Cities

An investigating officer from the Telangana Police, who did not wish to be named, told The Cyber Express that, “Accused Jatin had initiated comprehensive monitoring and vulnerability assessment & penetration testing (VAPT) not only from the Telangana Police but also gained access to police data in the external and internal storage networks and mobile apps in Delhi, Mumbai and other metro cities. He planned to carry out cyberattacks on those cities as well.  “As far as Telangana police data is concerned, prima facie, it looks like the accused gained access to certain data on Hawk Eye app due to weak or compromised password. Despite his best efforts to mask his identity, we tracked him down,” the police source stated.  Without revealing much, the source in the Telangana Police said that the TG-CSB traced him by “running a parallel operation using advanced software and social engineering techniques.”  The police added that Jatin used a fake identity and conducted transactions in cryptocurrency using multiple addresses.  Investigation revealed that the accused had reportedly been into hacking since 2019 and had saved the breached data in his system. Jatin had a history of alleged cybercrimes and was previously arrested in 2023 in New Delhi for leaking data on Aadhar (a biometric identity card for Indian citizens) and sensitive data related to other agencies. However, a chargesheet has yet to be filed against him.  Hawk Eye App Data Breach: A Larger Network of Hackers? Despite the arrest of Jatin, the police are now investigating the possible involvement of a larger network of hackers.  “Jatin had posted the breached data on BreachForums and was selling it for $150 USD. He then asked interested buyers to contact him through Telegram IDs ‘Adm1nfr1end’ and ‘Adm1nfr1ends’ to purchase the data for HawkEye and TSCOP apps. But we are not sure if he is the only culprit. We are now probing if the app data was sold and if so, are tracking down the purchasers through data from crypto wallets,” the police official told The Cyber Express.  The Telangana Police are still currently in New Delhi and are completing the paperwork to bring the accused on a transit remand to Hyderabad (the capital of Telangana) for custody and further investigation.

Less than a week after The Cyber Express exposed the data breach of a crime reporting app in India’s Telangana State, a hacker has now claimed to have engineered yet another cyberattack on Telangana Police's data. The Thread Actor (TA) has claimed to have carried out the TSCOP App Cyberattack, which is the Telangana Police’s internal crime detection app across all its wings. The massive data breach claims to expose the personal details of police officers, criminals, and gun license holders in Telangana.

Understanding the TSCOP App Cyberattack

TSCOP app was launched on January 1, 2018, to ensure better collaboration and operational efficiency of the police at all levels across the state of Telangana. The app received a boost when it was equipped with the Facial Recognition System (FRS) whereby the police could identify criminals in a few seconds by comparing a suspect's face with lakhs of digital photographs of people, including previous offenders, wanted and those missing stored in the central database. The App was also adjudged the ‘Best IT Project’ in India, for empowering police with information technology. [caption id="attachment_74941" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Source: Telangana Police Website[/caption] The TSCOP App Cyberattack was masterminded by a threat actor who goes by the name “Adm1nFr1end.” The same thread actor was responsible for Telangana Police’s Hawk Eye app data breach last week. The claims of cyberattack on the TSCOP app emerged on June 5, 2024, when the TA posted the alleged leaked data on BreachForums site. According to the TA, the leaked data includes the names, phone numbers and email addresses of police personnel from the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Anti-Narcotics Bureau, Intelligence, Greyhounds (counter-insurgency wing against terrorists), Home Guards, and a host of other wings of the Telangana Police.

TSCOP App Cyberattack Samples

To substantiate the claims of cyberattack, the thread actor shared a few samples which revealed the phone number, name and designation of police officers. In a few cases, the district and zone of the concerned police officer were also leaked, along with the cop’s IMEI mobile number. But what could be major concern to the police is the leak of data related to criminals who were recently booked. The TA shared samples of offenders who were recently booked, which revealed the operations carried out by the concerned police station, the names, ages, mobile numbers, and addresses of the accused, the date on which they were booked, and in a few cases, the crime for which they were booked. The hacker also shared another sample, which could be of critical concern owing to breach of privacy of citizens. This data breach revealed the names, addresses, voter ids, date of birth and license number of citizens who had applied for a gun license and the reason for holding a weapon.

Experts Site Weak System Behind TSCOP App Cyberattack

When the Telangana Police’s website was hacked last week, cybersecurity experts had warned the cops of multiple attacks in the future. India’s popular data security researcher Srinivas Kodali said, “It is easy to hack into their system as they used basic authentication and encoding.” He condemned the state police for not hiring proper developers and putting the privacy of several thousand users at risk. [caption id="attachment_74951" align="alignnone" width="687"] Source: X[/caption] The Cyber Express has reached out to the Telangana Police, seeking their response on the cyberattack. We will update this story as we get more information. Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.