Bombay High Court restrains hacker group from disclosing school children’s sensitive data

The Bombay High Court has restrained a hacker group from disclosing any data related to children studying in educational institutions run by a charitable trust. [XYZ Charitable Trust and Anr v. FulcrumSec and Ors]

The Trust moved the Court after the hacker group FulcrumSec threatened to release the data in case its demand of $750,000 was not met.

In an order passed on June 12, Justice Arif S Doctor said that disclosure of the hacked information would be harmful for the children.

“The disclosure of such highly sensitive and confidential information, particularly with regard to the mental health issues of the children, could indeed have grave and deleterious effects, in particular on the children themselves,” the judge observed in the order. 

Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf, representing the Trust, requested for a relief without hearing Fulcrum and other defendants apprehending that any opportunity of hearing to them would defeat the very purpose of the interim application moved by it.

The Court accepted this contention and held that the case warranted an ex parte order.

The Trust, which runs several educational institutions, told the Court that it had fallen victim to the hacking of its databases. The hacked data allegedly includes details of when and from where children travel to school, their medical conditions, mental‑health issues and information on the vocation and income of parents.

Saraf submitted that on May 12, FulcrumSec allegedly emailed the Trust and demanded $750,000 to not reveal the data publicly.

One of the parents is stated to have received an email on June 10, disclosing confidential information about several children, particularly concerning their mental‑health issues. 

“From what has been pointed out to me, FulcrumSec has details of the vocation, income and other details of the parents of the children and the daily movement of the children. Such information, if made public, could also potentially pose a grave risk to the safety of the children,” the judge noted. 

In view of these findings, the Court granted an ad‑interim order restraining FulcrumSec and the other defendants from leaking or publishing the data they have allegedly hacked. 

The Court will hear the matter next on July 1. 

Saraf, along with Advocates Chirag Mody, Parag Khandhar, Soham Bhalerao, Tapan Radkar and Sankit Jain, briefed by DSK Legal, appeared for the Trust. 

[Read Order]