Hacker uses Telegram to leak data of insurer Star Health

Stolen customer data including medical reports from India’s biggest health insurer, Star Health, is publicly accessible via chatbots on Telegram, just weeks after Telegram’s founder was accused of allowing the messenger app to facilitate crime.

The purported creator of the chatbots told a security researcher, who alerted Reuters to the issue, that private details of millions of people were for sale and that samples could be viewed by asking the chatbots to divulge.

Star Health and Allied Insurance, whose market capitalisation exceeds $4 billion, in a statement to Reuters said it has reported alleged unauthorised data access to local authorities.

It said an initial assessment showed “no widespread compromise” and that “sensitive customer data remains secure”.

Using the chatbots, Reuters was able to download policy and claims documents featuring names, phone numbers, addresses, tax details, copies of ID cards, test results and medical diagnoses.