IAF Team to Visit France to Probe Possible Data Theft During Rafale Office Break-in
The Indian Air Force is planning to send a forensic team to France to probe if any documents were stolen or copied during the break-in into its Rafale Project management team office last Sunday.
New Delhi, May 26: The Indian Air Force is planning to send a forensic team to France to probe if any documents were stolen or copied during the break-in into its Rafale Project management team office last Sunday. Unidentified persons broke into the Indian Rafale Project management team office in France last Sunday night in a possible espionage attempt to steal data related to the aircraft critical to India's national security plans."A forensic team comprising cyber forensic experts in planned to be sent for the probe. In the initial investigations, it has emerged that no hard disk or files have been stolen," government sources told ANI.
They said the officers would find out if any soft copies were stolen or copied by the unidentified elements after they broke into the Rafale PMT office. The Rafale project team is headed by a Group Captain-rank officer who looks after issues related to the 36 Rafale combat aircraft, including the production timelines and training of Indian personnel who have to be trained for maintenance and flying operations of the plane, which India is acquiring.
The Rafale team sits in a building complex in Saint Cloud suburb of Paris and the police there is investigating the case. Sources said the main aim of the break-in could have been to steal data as valuables or money are not kept in these administrative offices. The Indian Rafale team office is in the vicinity of French Dassault Aviation office blocks.