After several high profile arrests within the Indian security forces, the country’s government has decided to lodge an official protest with the US embassy in New Delhi. Indian authorities accuse the US of using a joint Indian-US cybersecurity forum as cover for spying activities in which several senior national security officials were involved.

Among those involved in the incident were a director of the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s external intelligence agency, a Navy commander, who led the National Security Council information security team and a computer systems analyst. Indian authorities believe that the men responsible for keeping India safe in the cyberdomain leaked sensitive information to foreign intelligence contacts, creating a security breach of their own.

Much of the investigation is centred on the joint Indo-US Cyber Security Forum, launched in 2002 to promote better understanding and sharing of information when countering cybercrime on a bilateral basis. Indian authorities allege that this forum was used as a basis to initiate contacts with Indian experts who could provide sensitive information. One of those experts, who coordinated the Forum until recently, has since joined a private US software firm operating in India.

The US embassy in New Delhi has so far declined to comment on the issue and US ambassador David Mulford reportedly expressed his surprise on the recent developments upon hearing of them.