Customs department detects large scale hack, could cause loss of Rs 50 crore

The Customs department of India has detected a large-scale hack where cyber criminals accessed the IT systems of the department. After accessing the systems without authorisation, hackers manipulated critical data that could cause loss of approximately Rs 50 crore as reported by Times of India. The department has filed an FIR with Delhi Police after the hack was detected. The matter has been escalated to the cyber division of the Delhi Police. Authorities have not ruled out inside involvement and are currently investigating at least half a dozen firms who were benefited after the hack including two suspected businessmen. Delhi Police Assistant Commissioner ML Meena issued a statement highlighting details related to the hack saying that criminals hacked into electronic interface systems and manipulated the values of custom-registered scripts, licences and authorisations. These authorisations are issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and fake licenses were fed into the system according to a customs officer. The police and customs department have not disclosed any additional details related to the hack. A report of the initial inquiry by the department has been submitted to police. Cyber Cell is currently trying to track the IP address of the system used to hack the interface systems with no additional updates to the case.