Major security lapse in e-grantz website; data of 2.68 lakh applicants leaked

Thiruvananthapuram: A huge security lapse has been detected in the e-grantz website of the state government. A large number of files containing photos and bank passbook details of students can be easily downloaded from the website. This has come to light soon after data leaking and privacy issues were widely discussed recently.

The security lapse has been found in the website www.egrantz.kerala.gov.in which is used for submitting applications for scholarships for the students who belong to SC, ST and OBC categories and for other benefits. Akhilesh B. Chandran, a software engineer at a private company in Thiruvananthapuram identified the problem.

The copies of the first pages of 2.68 lakh bank passbooks are available in the website easily accessible for anyone. The profile pictures of the students and other details also can be downloaded. The folder that contains the passbook data is of 15 GB size and the one containing profile pictures is of 6 GB size. Each folder contains over 2 lakh files. Another folder with a size of 180 GB is also available on the site.

Anyone who has the login ID for the website can enter the folder that has profile pictures, said Akhilesh. Those who know about this can access the files without logging in. The folders containing profile pictures and bank passbooks have been checked and verified by mathrubhumi.com. Akhilesh said that the data leakage occurred due to the lapses in file backup process. It is not confirmed if the data was accessed by anyone.

Earlier, similar security lapses were detected in the website of Kerala University too, said Akhilesh. The photos and signature of students were accessible on the website then. On finding this, Akhilesh informed the same to the university through an email. The error was corrected the following day itself.