Leading insurer Star Health Insurance admitted to a shocking data breach after private data of millions of customers were compromised.

The leaked data not only includes personal info like names, dates of birth, mobile numbers and email IDs, but also sensitive details like PAN, salary, residential addresses, policy numbers, pre-existing conditions and other health details

Who hacked Star Health Insurance?

A user, identified as xenZen, took responsibility for the hacking, alleging that Amarjee Khanuja, the Chief Information Security Officer at Star Health Insurance, sold the data to them directly for $43,000. 

The insurance details of the customers have now been put on sale by the hacker who allegedly leaked 7.24 TB data consisting information about more than 31 million customers. The whole data was offered for $150,000 while they were partially offered in bundles of 1 lakh customer records at $10,000.

The incident camme to light when X user Deedy Das raised alarm about the data leak, saying “Nothing is private in India.” Deedy alleged that Khanuja contacted xenZen through Tox, an encrypted chat messenger, on July 26. They allegedly cut a deal for $28,000 Monero, a cryptocurrency, in exchange for the data. Following this, hacker made the payment and accessed the data using login credentials and API details allegedly provided by Khanuja via ProtonMail.

Khanuja allegedly sold more data for another $15,000 on July 20. Deedy alleged that Khanuja, however, revoked the access within a week, demanding $150,000 for senior management. But the hacker refused and later the data was listed for sale online. In September, a website was set up to offer customer data through Telegram bots.

However, Star Health has dismissed allegations about its involvement in the “targeted malicious attack”. It has filed a lawsuit against the hacker as well as Telegram, where the data was leaked initially

Claiming its operations are fully functional and services to customers are unaffected, the health insurer said a probe is being carried out by its cybersecurity team. “We continue to work in conjunction with authorities to ensure that customer data remains protected,” said the company.

A seven-second TikTok video posted this month on the official Kamala Harris account shows Donald Trump mistakenly telling a crowd to get out and vote on January 5.

“Bro is running for president and doesn’t even know when Election Day is,” reads the caption, alongside a laughing emoji.

While the 2016 race for the White House was labelled the “Facebook election” as campaigns and voters flocked to the social media platform, this year TikTok is the app of choice for Harris and Trump’s online battle for younger voters.

“This election has been the TikTok election,” said Lara Cohen, head of creators at Linktree, which has worked on get-out-the-vote initiatives. The campaigns are “conscious that [Gen Z] is a demographic that they need to be hitting if they’re going to win — and that starts with generating enthusiasm online”.

The campaigns have been harnessing irreverent internet culture, memes and slang on TikTok, as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has deliberately shifted its algorithm away from serving political content on Facebook and Elon Musk’s pro-Trump bent has alienated some users of his platform, X. 

TikTok’s algorithm — which feeds users an addictive stream of popular short videos — allows campaigns to get in front of new audiences who might not otherwise be searching for political content.

“The design of the app allows opposing filter bubbles to interact,” said Crystal Abidin, professor of internet studies at Curtin University in Perth. “It allows you to find things outside your palette.” 

Users have been wielding its popular features — such as “duetting” and live streaming debates with other accounts — to engage with politics. Some creators have also taken to making “fancam” videos, compilations of photos or videos of candidates edited with effects, which fans typically create to celebrate musical artists and actors. There is a trend of TikTok users filming themselves filling in their mailing ballots to music. 

To increase Harris’s reach when she became the Democratic candidate in July, her camp hired what deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty described as a pack of “feral 25-year-olds” to latch on to trending music and popular editing styles in real time.

They have generated their own viral videos on issues including abortion and climate change, alongside Trump bloopers. 

At the same time, the campaign openly courted creators on the platform, inviting them to glitzy White House events and to the Democratic National Convention, in the hope their messaging would spread organically to their own sizeable TikTok followings. 

Trump’s TikTok has presented a more sombre offering — videos set to menacing music, with dark predictions about the economy and soaring immigration under a Harris presidency, and pieces-to-camera by the former president warning of a “nation in decline”.

These are interspersed with clips of light-hearted meetups with young male creators, such as prankster Logan Paul and video game streamer Adin Ross, who are closely affiliated with the so-called manosphere, or online spaces focused on masculinity. 

Harris’s TikTok strategy is “aspirational for any brand, let alone a politician”, where Trump’s feels “less native” to TikTok and closer to traditional campaign material, according to Cohen.

Despite having 5mn followers, compared with Trump’s 12mn, Harris’s KamalaHQ account has attracted 1.5bn views, compared with the Republican candidate’s 1bn. 

But Harris mania has lost steam in recent weeks, both in the polls and on TikTok.

Data shared with the Financial Times by social media intelligence platform CredoIQ found that the amount of viral conservative content on TikTok surpassed viral progressive content in the wake of the vice-presidential debate between JD Vance, the Republican, and Tim Walz, the Democrat, at the beginning of October. 

Ben Darr, CredoIQ’s founder, noted that a rise in Trump-supporting creators pushing content criticising the current government’s relief efforts in hurricanes Helene and Milton might have contributed to the swing.

About 47 per cent of content viewed about the October storms was conservative, compared with 43 per cent that was progressive, according to CredoIQ.  

Harris’s digital operation, which is about 250 strong, has a rapid response team of about 15 young people. Well versed in internet speak, they trawl the web looking to latch on to trends just as they are gathering momentum, collaborating through Slack channels and messaging apps.  

The content goes through a light approval process, with an emphasis on trial and error. Some posts mock Trump for being “weird” and “out of it”, or feature clips of Democrats “dragging” or “clapping back” at his policies. In others, Harris is typically laughing or “sharing her love for Gen Z”. 

The goal, according to one person familiar with the campaign’s strategy, is to create “permission structures”, or make influencers feel comfortable enough to post positively about Harris, which means their followers feel able to do the same. 

“Only having Gen Z do that is authentic,” said April Eichmeier, assistant professor in the emerging media department at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. “A tweet from the Clinton campaign used to take days. That’s not how you run a campaign in a world where something can go viral in 15 minutes.”

The success of Harris’s digital campaign has irked Trump, who has insisted on his Truth Social app that he has “the greatest social media program in history”. 

But experts note there are fewer Republican politicians on TikTok, partly because some have taken issue with its Chinese ownership and described the app as “digital fentanyl” designed to destroy the minds of young Americans. 

“Republicans by and large have missed an opportunity to be there,” said Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist and executive director at the Center for Campaign Innovation. He added that the centre’s research found that one in five self-identified Maga Republicans used TikTok every day. 

But in an interview with Semafor, Alex Bruesewitz, senior Trump communications adviser, said TikTok had been “good for us this campaign cycle”, while in 2020 Facebook had engaged in “censorship”.

Bruesewitz added that the campaign had been “leveraging Trump as a person”, for example “through funny TikTok meetups with some of the biggest influencers in the world”. 

TikTok’s new role at the heart of politics has brought with it fresh concerns about misinformation on the platform. A report earlier this month by left-leaning group Media Matters found conspiracies and falsehoods on TikTok related to the recent hurricanes that had garnered millions of views.

With Trump and Harris running neck and neck as campaigning is in its final stretch, it is unclear whether the candidates’ TikTok followings will give them an edge at the ballot box.  

Jessica Siles, deputy press secretary of Gen Z political advocacy group Voters of Tomorrow, said there was a surge in volunteer sign-ups and recruitment when Harris was elevated to the top of her party’s ticket. “So much of that excitement came from the online buzz that immediately happened on TikTok,” she said. 

But Cohen cautioned that while “early indications of voter registration have been really positive in terms of activating young people . . . the proof is going to be in the pudding”. 

Additional reporting by Anna Nicolaou in New York and Peter Andringa in London

Noel Tata has succeeded his late half-brother Ratan Tata as the chairman of Tata Trusts.

Tata Trusts owns 66 per cent of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group. The appointment of Noel Tata as chairman comes after a board meeting held in Mumbai on Friday. 

Tata Trusts, set up by Ratan Tata’s great grandfather Jamsetji Tata in 1892, carry out philanthropic activities in healthcare, nutrition, education, livelihood, environment, migration, skill development, sports, and disaster relief, among other things. Tata Trusts broadly comprises of Sir Ratan Tata Trust & Allied Trusts, and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust & Allied Trusts.

ALSO READ: End of an era: Ratan Tata, titan of India Inc, passes away

Noel Tata currently serves as a trustee on the board of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. He is also the chairman of Tata Trent and vice chairman of Tata Steel.

The 67-year-old Noel, who graduated from Sussex University in the UK and has completed the International Executive Programme from INSEAD remains the chairman of Tata Group’s retail arm Trent. Son of Naval H. Tata and Simone N. Tata, Noel has been associated with the Tata Group for over 40 years.

Ratan Tata, who passed away on Wednesday, reportedly, had not designated a successor.

Noel Tata, the half-brother of Ratan Tata, has been appointed the new chairman of Tata Trusts, the country’s largest charitable organisation that controls the diversified Tata Group. His appointment follows the death of Ratan Tata late on Wednesday night.

Trustees of the various Tata Trusts met at a joint meeting in Mumbai on Friday. The trustees condoled the demise of Ratan Tata, recalling his yeoman services not only to the Tata Group, but also towards nation building.

In separate meetings, it was unanimously decided to appoint Noel Naval Tata as the chairman of Tata Trusts and the various trusts that constitute the Tata Trusts.

ALSO READ: What is Noel Tata’s net worth? Tata Trusts chief put Croma, Zudio and Westside on Indian retail map

Reacting to his appointment, Noel said he was “deeply honoured and humbled” by the responsibility that had been cast on him and that he looked forward to carrying on the legacy of Ratan Tata and the founders of the Tata Group.

“Founded more than a century ago, the Tata Trusts are a unique vehicle for undertaking social good. On this solemn occasion, we rededicate ourselves to carrying on our developmental and philanthropic initiatives and contributing to play our part in nation-building,” he said. 

ALSO READ: Ratan Tata’s words of wisdom: 18 quotes every entrepreneur and investor should learn from India’s beloved industrialist

Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust are the two main trusts that make the Tata Trusts, which carry out philanthropic activities in healthcare, nutrition, education, livelihood, environment, migration, skill development, sports, and disaster relief, among other things.

The two trusts further comprise several foundations. For instance, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust’s allied trusts include Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust, Tata Education and Development Trust, Bai Hirabai J.N. Tata Navsari Charitable Foundation, and Sarvajanik Seva Trust. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust includes the JN Endowment for the Higher Education of Indians, JRD Tata Trust, Jamsetji Tata Trust and four others.

ALSO READ: Who is Aloo Mistry? Noel Tata’s wife is the daughter of business tycoon Pallonji Mistry

TVS Group’s Venu Srinivasan and former defence secretary Vijay Singh are currently the vice-chairmen of Tata Trusts.

Tata Trusts hold a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group and has wielded a lot of influence over the aviation to software and consumer goods conglomerate over the years. In 2022-23, the trusts distributed around $56 million in grants.

Historically someone from the Tata family or at least a Parsi has headed the trusts. The appointment of 67-year-old Noel Tata will thus go well among the Parsi community.

Noel has been a trustee on the board of Sir Ratan Tata Trust since 2019 and Dorabji Tata Trust since 2022. Therefore, his appointment in a way will signal the continuity of the service and the legacy that Tata Group founders have built over decades at the philanthropies. 

Noel also brings deep experience of being associated with various Tata companies over decades, which will be an advantage. While he remains the chairman of Tata Group’s retail arm Trent, he is also the chairman of Tata International, Voltas, and Tata Investment Corporation and is the vice-chairman of Titan and Tata Steel. 

Noel graduated from Sussex University in the UK and has completed the International Executive Programme from INSEAD and has generally maintained a low profile over the years, compared with Ratan Tata. Trent shares have been among the top performers within the Tata Group and now command a market cap of close to Rs 2.93 lakh crore.

Noel has three children – Maya, Neville and Leah who are also associated with the Tata Group in various roles. Neville heads the group’s supermarket chain Star Bazaar. Leah is a vice-president at Indian Hotels, the group’s luxury hotel chain and Maya works at Tata Digital.   

Noel brings with him a wealth of experience, having successfully led international operations within the Tata Group, said corporate and legal advisor Akshat Khetan.  

“His global perspective, coupled with a deep understanding of the values that define the Tata brand, positions him well to continue the legacy of nation-building and community welfare established by his predecessors,” he said. 

However, Noel faces several challenges as he steps into this pivotal role,  said Khetan. 

Ratan Tata’s passing leaves a significant vacuum, not only in terms of leadership but also the immense moral authority and personal connections he brought to the institution, he felt.

“In the coming years, one of his key tasks will be to ensure that the Trust continues to expand its impact, both in India and globally, while addressing emerging challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and digital transformation,” Khetan added. 

David Geale, interim managing director of the Payment Systems Regulator, is right: to tackle payment fraud, the entire ecosystem must work together (“Social media groups pressed to do more in ‘war’ on fraud”, Interview, October 15).

That means holding social media giants, such as Meta, more accountable for the fraud that originates on their platforms.

While the Payment Systems Regulator’s new rules may protect consumers from financial loss, they neither stop fraud nor solve the underlying problem. The focus must shift to stopping fraud before it happens. And this is where Meta must step up. Much of this fraud begins on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But where are the misinformation labels, the pop-up warnings and the preventive measures for unverified content — such as suspicious investment advice or fake job offers?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social media companies used misinformation labels to combat unreliable health information. This model should be applied for fraud, giving users a moment of pause before potentially falling victim to scammers.

Awareness campaigns need to go beyond vague warnings and show real examples of investment scams, impersonation schemes and more, highlighted by victim stories and statistics.

The problem for financial institutions is that many of these socially engineered scams are incredibly difficult to detect because victims believe they are making legitimate payments.

True change requires a united front across social media, banks, regulators and law enforcement.

Legislation such as the Online Safety Act falls short of holding social media firms accountable. Penalties or incentives are necessary to push platforms like Meta to take meaningful action.

It’s time for Meta to stop looking the other way. Meta needs to act now. If we’re serious about tackling this scam epidemic, we must shift towards a preventive approach, and this starts with the platforms where the fraud begins.

Silvija Krupena
Director, Financial Intelligence Unit, RedCompass Labs, London, EC2 UK