59,000 Rajasthan Govt Emails Disabled After Dark Web Hack Claims

A massive cybersecurity alert has gripped administrative circles in Jaipur following claims by an international dark web hacker collective alleging a catastrophic data breach of state government digital infrastructure. In response to the circulating threats, state authorities disabled approximately 59,000 official email accounts and took key public-facing portals offline for three consecutive days under the rubric of emergency server testing and comprehensive maintenance. The shutdown disrupted routine digital operations across critical departments—including Police, Finance, Medical & Health, School Education, and Public Health Engineering (Water Supply)—forcing officials to resort to instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp to transmit day-to-day administrative communication.Scarlett Group Claims Dark Web Breach: Millions of Sensitive Emails ExposedThe administrative shutdown follows alarming claims made by a cyber syndicate operating on dark web forums:Staggering Scale of Breach Allegations: The threat actor group identifying as "Scarlett" posted assertions detailing unauthorized access to 5,926 official government mailboxes.Massive Archive of Stolen Data: The syndicate claimed to hold an archive exceeding 8.63 million state emails, alongside 70,301 individual identity records and 59,460 mobile contact numbers linked to state employees.Preventative Network Lockdown: To isolate internal state networks from secondary intrusion vectors or malware propagation, IT administrators severed access to state email gateways pending deep forensic clearance.Central CERT-In Deploys to Jaipur as Administrative Work Shifts to National ServersThe scale of the incident prompted rapid intervention by national cybersecurity apparatus:On-Site Forensic Deployment: Specialists from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the central nodal agency for cyber defense, arrived in Jaipur directly from New Delhi to lead technical audits and trace penetration points.Failover to Central Servers: Official administrative processing and core governmental workflows were transitioned onto secure central government server architectures to prevent prolonged disruption to administrative machinery.Official Reassurances: Devesh Barmera, Additional Director of Rajasthan's Department of Information Technology and Communication (DoIT), clarified that the email shutdown was executed purely as a preventative safeguard and maintained that state data remains completely intact.Police Cyber Cell Registers FIR Under IT Act: Preliminary Audits Challenge Hack ClaimsLegal and law enforcement mechanisms have swung into motion across Rajasthan's cyber security divisions:Statutory Criminal Case Registered: Acting on a formal complaint lodged by the Deputy Director of DoIT, the State Cyber Police Station registered a regular First Information Report (FIR) invoke Sections 43, 65, and 66 of the Information Technology Act.Confidential Communications Paused: Transmission of sensitive departmental orders, classified circulars, and official dossiers through standard state channels remains paused while security seals are verified.Law Enforcement Position: Rajasthan Cyber Crime Inspector General Shantanu Kumar stated that early technical investigations have yet to uncover definitive forensic evidence proving that core government servers were actively compromised, suggesting the shutdown was taken out of abundant operational caution.