TCS and HCL Confirm Employee Data Breaches, Say Customer Data Unaffected

TCS and HCL, two of India's largest IT services companies, both disclosed data breaches last week involving employee information, with each company saying customer data remains safe.

TCS said in a stock exchange filing that it had "received threat-intelligence alerts alleging possible exposure of certain employee information." The company said it investigated the matter and "has not found any credible evidence of a breach of TCS systems or customer environments," describing the leaked data as "basic employee information" that is more than four years old.

According to the filing, the attacker claimed to have used password spray and multi-factor authentication fatigue techniques to obtain the data.

"The attacker claims to have used password spray and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) fatigue as the attack vector. The Company has had strong safeguards in place against such techniques for more than two years. Based on the current review, these controls remain effective, and the Company continues to monitor the environment closely," TCS said in the filing.

HCL disclosed a similar incident in its own stock exchange filing, addressing what it called "claims made by a hacker group of potential exposure of limited data elements relating to HCLTech employees." The company described the exposed data as "limited and dated to a few years back" and said customer data was not affected. HCL said its investigation into the incident is ongoing.

"There is no evidence of breach to the Company’s systems or engagement with any of the Company’s clients. The Company, however, is undertaking further investigation, and any material findings in this regard will be reported," HCL said in the statement. "The Company considers cyber security as its top priority and remains committed to protecting the information entrusted to it."

Also Read: HCLTech, TCS Data Claims Put India’s IT Giants on Cyber Alert