DU data leak: Be cautious online
Initially, there were calls from coaching centres and fake companies, but then, I started getting lewd messages,” says Rashi Sahu, a Delhi University (DU) student, who is one of the many facing a tough time since the incident of a massive leak of students’ details has been reported. This reportedly began when DU issued admit cards for exams on its website. Some students have also received threatening calls. “People call and say either you talk to us or we may do something that will ruin your future... I don’t feel safe,” says Diksha Yadav, another student of the varsity.
Recently, some female students who had opted for online exams, took to social media to complain about it. Explaining how this is linked to the data theft from online admit cards, Arun Hooda, a student of LLM at Faculty of Law, says, “It’s easy to access the admit card of any student by changing a few numbers on the URL. Even the gateway password we got to download our admit card was easy to guess.” And Akshay Lakra, an LLB student at the Campus Law Centre, recalls, “DU later issued a unique password to students. But, that, too, got breached...”
Students have filed a police complaint, but continue to remain stressed. Karan Goel, ACP, Cyber Crime, Gurugram, says, “Victims should come out in the open, and not be embarassed... While visiting any domain, double-check if you’re on the right page. Don’t lackadaisically do any web surfing, like in this case they submitted data.” Delhibased
psychologist Harleen Kaur suggests, “Report anonymously if you like... It’s important to report as well as talk about it, so that youngsters who are at an impressionable age don’t feel helpless.”