New Delhi: Amid the tug of war between BJP and the opposition Congress over ‘data breach’ allegations just months ahead of crucial 2019 general elections, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday lashed out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi alleging that ‘a whistleblower confirmed Cambridge Analytica worked with Congress’.

Addressing the media, union minister said, “Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie has accepted before British Parliamentary committee that Cambridge Analytica worked for the Congress Party”.

He further said that Congress stands exposed after this revelation and Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the people for the same. “This has exposed Rahul Gandhi, who was denying all along. Congress and Rahul Gandhi must now apologise”.

The Ministry of Information and Technology had last week asked UK-based Cambridge Analytica - the firm at the centre of the date breach scandal--to furnish a list of clients and the source of data it had collected from India.

The notice came after reports suggested that political parties had used the data analytics firm for furthering their poll prospects.

CERT-In, which is the nodal agency to combat hacking, said users of cyberspace should follow best practices such as not posting private information and non-disclosure of an individual's location.

"Facebook being part of a public network could allow easy access to information which should not be disclosed," it said.