The Rajasthan Police cyber wing, known as R4C, has issued a formal advisory on 14 October 2026 urging all government officials and employees in the state to immediately strengthen the security of their official email accounts and guard against unauthorised access. The warning comes after the state's Security Operations Centre (SOC) detected instances of government email login credentials being leaked and reportedly offered for sale on the dark web.

What Triggered the Advisory

Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime) V.K. Singh said cybercriminals pose a persistent and growing threat of stealing and misusing government email IDs and passwords. The SOC flagged cases where leaked credentials had surfaced on dark web marketplaces, signalling that the threat is no longer theoretical. Singh emphasised that official email IDs serve as gateway credentials — they are used not only for correspondence but also to access Rajasthan SSO and other critical government digital services.

A compromise of these credentials, he cautioned, could expose departmental information, confidential documents, and sensitive digital resources to hostile actors.

The Password Reuse Problem

One of the key vulnerabilities highlighted in the advisory is the widespread practice of government employees registering their official email IDs on private commercial platforms — including Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Facebook, cab-booking services, and gaming apps. When the same password is used across official and personal accounts, a data breach on any of these third-party platforms can cascade into a full compromise of the government account.

Cybercriminals, the advisory warns, may exploit such stolen credentials to gain unauthorised access to critical state infrastructure including SSO, SecLAN, and RajSWAN — systems that underpin day-to-day administration across Rajasthan's government departments.

Warning Signs Officials Should Watch For

The R4C advisory lists specific red flags that could indicate an account has already been compromised. These include receiving unexpected login alerts or one-time passwords (OTPs) without initiating a login, discovering emails in the 'Sent' folder that the account holder did not send, being automatically logged out of government email accounts, finding that a password has been changed without the user's knowledge, noticing emails marked as 'Read' that were never opened, and receiving unusual or suspicious messages from colleagues' official email IDs.

Immediate Steps Recommended

Officials who have registered their government email IDs on shopping or social media platforms have been advised to remove those IDs from those profiles and replace them with personal email addresses. All government employees are advised to change their official email passwords immediately using a secure device.

The advisory also directs officials to verify whether their email addresses have appeared in known data breaches by checking the website haveibeenpwned.com. Any suspicious activity must be reported promptly to the concerned IT Helpdesk or the Security Operations Centre (SOC).

Broader Significance

This advisory is part of a broader pattern of cyber threat escalation targeting state government infrastructure across India. Notably, the involvement of dark web credential markets suggests organised cybercriminal activity rather than opportunistic attacks. With Rajasthan's digital governance stack — spanning land records, welfare disbursements, and administrative services — increasingly centralised through single sign-on platforms, a single compromised credential can potentially unlock access to multiple sensitive systems. The state administration's response and compliance with this advisory will be critical in the weeks ahead.