‘No breach whatsoever’: Bharti Airtel bluntly denies data leak of over 37 crore customers after ‘unverified’ allegations

Bharti Airtel data leak: Bharti Airtel has categorically denied 'unverified' reports of a massive security breach in its database systems that allegedly compromised the security and personal details of its 37.5 crore subscribers.

India's leading telecom major took to microblogging platform 'X' and confirmed that the authorities have conducted a thorough investigation and that there has been 'no breach whatsoever' in its database systems.

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Media reports stated that the data leak allegations arose after hackers claimed on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) that the data of Airtel customers was reportedly leaked on the dark web. Reports suggested that the details of over 37 crore Airtel customers, including their phone numbers, email ids, address, and Aadhaar card were available for sale on the dark web.

In its statement, Bharti Airtel said that the rumours circulating online are ‘nothing short of a desperate attempt to tarnish their reputation by vested interests’. "We have done a thorough investigation and can confirm that there has been no breach whatsoever from Airtel systems,'' said the telecom in its statement.

Experts from leading cybersecurity firms also denied the allegations stating that the hackers on the dark web have gathered previously leaked data and labelled it as a recent security breach on the part of Bharti Airtel authorities.

“The recent Airtel database leak reported on dark web news is inaccurate. The threat actor has gathered previously leaked data and is falsely claiming it to be a recent breach of Airtel's database. Over the past few years, there have been numerous instances of millions of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) being leaked from various providers,'' said Rahul Sasi, CEO and co-founder, CloudSEK.

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Threat actors are aggregating this publicly available leaked information and falsely attributing it to telecom databases. It's important to note that it's relatively easy to compile a database consisting of first names, last names, and phone numbers belonging to any service provider using publicly available datasets,” added Sasi.

Meanwhile, Airtel has introduced new prices across a range of its popular plans, effective July 3. The telecom major aims to balance affordability and enhanced service offerings. Some of the popular revised prepaid plans include:

1GB/day (28 days): Now priced at ₹299, up from the previous ₹265.

1.5GB/day (28 days): Increased to ₹349, from ₹299.

2GB/day (28 days): Now at ₹409, previously ₹359.

1.5GB/day (84 days): Revised to ₹859, up from ₹719.

2GB/day (84 days): Priced at ₹979, previously ₹839.

2.5GB/day (365 days): Now at ₹3,599, up from ₹2,999.