“A massive data breach has exposed approximately 19,000 highly sensitive files related to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) on the dark web. The documents mainly involve Units 3 and 4 of the 2,400 MW plant, both still under construction and slated to become operational by 2027.”
“The data breach occurred on a server managed by third-party data center provider Yotta, which detected suspicious activity on a server belonging to Reliance Infrastructure, a subsidiary of India’s Reliance Group. World Leaks (formerly Hunters International), a cybercriminal group that focuses on stealing sensitive data and extorting victims, published the cache after demands for money were ignored.”
“The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and the country’s central cybersecurity agency, CERT-In, are currently investigating the incident, noting that the documents do not appear to impact the core nuclear reactor systems, which are separately engineered by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom.”
“However, security researchers from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) have warned that bad actors could exploit this data to map out support systems, identify vendor vulnerabilities and target critical links in the plant’s supply chain…”
“The KKNPP data breach is the second cyber incident linked to the nuclear plant…”