Paytm Mall has reportedly suffered a major data breach after a notorious hacker group called ‘John Wick’ targeted its database. That’s according to US-based cyber research firm, Cyble, which says that the attackers are demanding a ransom in cryptocurrency in exchange for the data. The breach apparently affects all accounts at Paytm Mall, which means the attackers might have ‘unrestricted access’ to credit card and debit card details of every Paytm Mall user.
Paytm, however, has denied any such attack, saying all its customer data was safe and secure. In a statement to NDTV Gadgets, the company said: “We have been investigating the claims of a possible hack and data breach, and haven’t found any security lapses yet. We also have a Bug Bounty program, under which we reward responsible disclosure of any security risks”.
Meanwhile, Cyble is sticking to its guns, saying that it received information about the hack from a former John Wick member. According to the informant, who goes by the alias ‘KelvinSec’, the hackers uploaded a backdoor/Adminer on Paytm Mall and was able to gain unrestricted access to their entire databases.
What’s even more disconcerting is that according to the source, the hack is an inside job, although, the claim is yet to be verified independently. The source further claimed that Paytm has already started paying the ransom demanded by the hackers, although that claim is also not yet independently verified. Paytm, however, had last year reported a fraud of up to Rs. 10 crore allegedly masterminded by some of its junior employees.
John Wick has been blamed for ransomware attacks on a number of Indian companies in the past, including Zee5, SquareYards, Stashfin, Sumo Payroll, Square Capital, i2ifunding, e27 and more.
