‘A Case of Hacking’: Parrikar on Indian Navy’s Submarine Data Leak

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. (Photo: Reuters)

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday directed Admiral Sunil Lamba, Chief of Naval Staff to analyse the extent of the leak of classified data on India’s Scorpene-class submarines.

This came to my knowledge at 12 midnight, it is a case of hacking. The first step is to identify if it’s related to us, and anyway it’s not a 100 percent leak.

Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister

A statement released by the Indian Navy said,

It appears that the source of leak is from overseas and not in India.

The leak, which runs to 22,400 pages and seen by The Australian (Australian newspaper) details the ­entire secret combat capability of the six Scorpene-class submarines being built for the Indian Navy by French shipbuilder Direction des Constructions et Armes Navales (DCNS).

The documents were marked “Restricted Scorpene India”. The DCNS documents detailed the most sensitive combat capabilities of India’s new $3 billion submarine fleet and would provide an ­intelligence bonanza if obtained by India’s strategic rivals, such as Pakistan or China.

Any stealth advantage for the navy’s new submarines would be gravely compromised if data on its planned combat and performance capabilities was leaked.

The Australian media reports, quoting DCNS, said that the leak of such technical data could not happen with its proposed submarine for Australia. The French company also alluded that the leak may have occurred at India’s end, rather than from France.

Uncontrolled technical data is not possible in the Australian Arrangements, Multiple and independent controls exist within DCNS to prevent unauthorised access to data and all data movements are encrypted and recorded. In the case of India, where a DCNS design is built by a local company, DCNS is the provider and not the controller of technical data.

DCNS Statement

The leak, which runs to 22,400 pages and seen by The Australian (Australian newspaper) details the ­entire secret combat capability of the six Scorpene-class submarines being built for the Indian Navy by French shipbuilder Direction des Constructions et Armes Navales (DCNS).

The documents were marked “Restricted Scorpene India”. The DCNS documents detailed the most sensitive combat capabilities of India’s new $3 billion submarine fleet and would provide an ­intelligence bonanza if obtained by India’s strategic rivals, such as Pakistan or China.

Any stealth advantage for the navy’s new submarines would be gravely compromised if data on its planned combat and performance capabilities was leaked.

Also Read: Classified Pages on Indian Navy’s Scorpene-Class Submarines Leaked