NEW DELHI (Kashmir English): Ransomware group World Leaks has reportedly published a large cache of files on the dark web related to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, India’s largest nuclear facility, including purported facility blueprints and supplier information.
According to reports, the leaked data was labelled by the hackers as originating from Reliance Group, one of the contractors associated with the nuclear power plant located in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Anil Ambani’s Indian business empire, Reliance Group, a contractor at the plant, informed Reuters that a “partial breach” of its information stored on the server of the third-party Indian data centre services company Yotta had occurred, and that the government was aware of the data breach.
Reliance did not specify what information had been breached.
The data breach “could be a serious threat” to the safety of the plant, according to Nickolas Roth, senior director of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, an organization providing advice to governments and measuring the preparedness of nations in terms of nuclear security.
This incident is yet another proof of how often hacks occur in India, where most businesses lack preparedness for handling such incidents.
The leaked data allegedly includes some facility maps, supplier details, meeting and inspection records, equipment reviews and insurance policies.
According to the report, out of the 858,000 files leaked by Reliance, 19,000 files appear to be the most sensitive and are available on the World Leaks website.
Reliance Infrastructure, a subsidiary of the group, had won the contract to design and build the infrastructure for Unit 3 and Unit 4 of the plant in 2018. These two units are still under construction and are expected to be operational by 2027, providing a total of 2,000 megawatts of electricity.
According to the news agency, World Leaks is a ransomware group and has previously targeted Nike and the Tata Group. The group usually releases stolen data on its website if companies do not pay ransom, which can only be accessed through a special browser.
In June, WorldLeaks told Reuters that it had demanded $1.5 million in ransom for the Tata Group files, which included confidential designs from clients such as Apple and Tesla, and that the data was released on a website after the ransom demand was rejected.
The documents released on the WorldLeaks website do not appear to be related to the core systems of the nuclear reactors, but they do include maps of the ventilation and cooling systems of Units 3 and 4 and a control room.
The files also include supplier proposals, a list of approved suppliers, and a record of a meeting between Nuclear Power Corporation and Reliance on a joint inspection in 2024, which also contains photographs of the equipment.
According to another document, Reliance Infrastructure and Nuclear Power Corporation have also obtained an insurance policy under which they could receive compensation of up to $112 million if Unit 3 or Unit 4 are the target of terrorism.
