Bengaluru sees two major cyber espionage in defence eco-system in last four years

Bengaluru

Bengaluru, one of the major suppliers of drones and sophisticated defence technology has allegedly seen two major cyber espionage in the span of four years. What’s worse is that highly stolen senesitve data has made its way into the dark net. 

A major cyber espionage was brought into light in December 2024 when NewsSpace Research and Technologies Private Limited registered a complaint with North East CEN police station. The company CEO Sameer Joshi alleged that former employees of the company stole source codes, CDA designs and other data pertaining to drone technology used in the defence sector.

The stolen data were also leaked into the dark web besides using the same for a formation of new company and bag defence contracts. This case is now being probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed on the direction of the High Court of Karnataka. Justice Nagaprasanna during course of the hearing expressed concerns about the espionage and specifically directed to constitute the SIT under the leadership of Director General of Police, (Cyber Command) Pronab Mohanty.

Also read: Highly sensitive defence drone tech surfaces on darknet

Another such case was reported in 2021 when Aeronautical Defence Agency (ADA) filed a complaint in a CEN police station in Bengaluru accising 27-year-old aerospace engineer Siva Rama Krishna Chennubomia. The police arrested Mr. Chennubomia in 2022 and he is currently out on bail. The HC in August 2023 refused to quash the case after hearing writ petition filed by the accused. He is currently out on bail. 

According to some documents accessed by BLR.POST shows that key documents linked to India’s advanced fighter aircraft research have surfaced on the dark web. Multiple sensitive materials, including classified project data and official correspondence, were leaked.

Among the compromised documents is a 2012 Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) between ADA and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, signed by Dr. A.K. Ghosh. The NDA covered collaborative research into the “Lateral Instability Characteristics of AMCA at Moderate High Angles of Attack – Phase I”, a crucial phase in the development of India’s fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Additionally, leaked files include data from the 2015 project titled “Design & Fabrication and Measurement of Dynamic Derivatives on 1:20 AMCA Model.” These documents detailed the experimental design processes and findings.

Also exposed were official design data transfer documents between ADA and IISc, raising alarms over the potential compromise of proprietary and defence-critical information.