Highlights
- eMudhra shares plunge nearly 20% to yearly low.
- Government orders investigation into digital certificate security incident.
- Company says Indian operations face no significant impact.
eMudhra share price: Shares of eMudhra plunged nearly 20 per cent to a 52-week low on Thursday, after the government said it has constituted a special team to investigate a security incident at the digital certification company.
eMudhra issues digital signature and website security certificates to enable them to securely connect to browsers for public access.
On the NSE, the stock tumbled 19.91 per cent to Rs 346 apiece.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex slipped 41.73 points to 73,667.96, while the NSE Nifty fell 47.35 points to 22,764 in the late morning trade.
The reported security incident largely pertains to global certificate biz, and the impact on Indian sites and applications is “very limited”, it said in a statement.
The statement from the government assumes significance as Indian digital certification authority eMudhra has revealed that private keys associated with its certificates have been compromised, which verify trusted digital assets and ensure secure online data transmission.
The shocking disclosure came after an advisory from the cybersecurity watchdog CERT-In.
A senior company official said weak keys were created by eight out of 40 certifying authorities but never put to commercial use, implying there was no cyber security incidence due to vulnerable keys.
“There’s no impact to subscribers because we have done all the actions,” eMudhra co-founder Kaushik Srinivasan told PTI, adding that the company is working with its customers to notify them that there is no impact because no certificates were issued.
He said the incident does not affect other lines of business, which are the India digital signature and enterprise solutions business.
The compromised keys could have been used by cyber criminals to develop a fraudulent online platform impersonating any genuine payment entity and lure people to make payments or access their personal information.
The issue came to light on October 17 after a researcher alerted Google and other technology companies that private keys associated with the certificates were vulnerable. Google and Mozilla subsequently moved to block the affected certificates.
eMudhra said all eight affected intermediate certificates were revoked on October 19 and that none had issued customer certificates. The company also said its infrastructure was not compromised and no data breach had occurred.
Namit Singh Sengar is a Chief Copy Editor with over seven years of experience in delivering content across diverse domains. Specialising in business news across personal finance, real estate, IPOs and markets, Namit brings an editorial eye and a deep understanding of complex subjects to his work. His educational foundation includes Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, which has equipped him with the skills to craft compelling and accurate narratives. His interest also keeps him follow topics such as economy, politics and stand-up comedy.
In his previous roles, Namit has covered brands, marketing and advertising as key writing beats. His expertise extends beyond the newsroom, as he has actively reported on and participated in numerous industry events, gaining insights into emerging trends and fostering connections within the field.