e-Mudra Stock Tumbles as Govt Flags Certificate Key Risk

Mumbai, October 22: Investor confidence in e-Mudra took a heavy hit after the government announced a security check into the company's certificate operations. The stock fell sharply on Thursday afternoon.

By 2 pm, e-Mudra shares were changing hands at Rs 351.40 on the NSE, reflecting a drop of 18.66 per cent. The stock has shed 35 per cent over the last three days, having been priced at Rs 540.15 on Monday.

The share price has been under pressure for a longer stretch too. Over six months, it has fallen 30 per cent, while the one-year decline exceeds 46 per cent.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology revealed that it had set up a special team to look into a security breach at e-Mudra. The company's digital certificates play a key role in helping browsers verify that a website is authentic.

The ministry noted that the breach is primarily linked to e-Mudra's global certificate business. Its effect on Indian websites and applications, it said, is 'very limited'.

The matter came to light after CERT-In, the cyber security monitoring agency, released an advisory. e-Mudra told CERT-In that private keys associated with its certificates were no longer secure. These keys are essential for verifying trusted digital assets and enabling secure online operations.

According to e-Mudra, the issue is confined to a small portion of its international Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate business. It stressed that the problem has no connection with its domestic digital signature operations.

The company said a fault in its system resulted in some weak keys being generated alongside robust cryptographic keys.