Indian banks security breached, 32 lakh bank accounts has been affected by the vulnerable malware, exposing(may) the card and pin details of it’s users. what worse could happen? All the major banks in India is affected by this malware, starting from SBI (State Bank of India), ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, YES Bank and AXIS Bank.
How it all started?
Breach is believed to have spread from backend of AXIS bank that was based on Hitachi Payment Services, which hackers has hacked into. Reportedly, AXIS bank has got a call from a Kaspersky lab engineer stating about the breach. AXIS bank team after a brief investigation found out that there was indeed a unauthorized entry from the backend.
Safety and security of our systems and processes is of paramount importance to us and we constantly monitor and are vigilant in our efforts to combat any potential threats. We would like to state that there has been no monetary loss, Said Axis Bank.
What are bankers doing about it?
Major Indian banks has been affected by this breach and there is no information on whether any other banks has been affected or not. SBI reportedly re-issue debit cards to six lakh customers who had used their card in suspected networks whereas other banks has asked their users to change the pins to prevent damages. SBI stated that they are taking serious measure to ensure that no one suffers from the breach.
SBI quoted;
Card network companies NPCI, MasterCard and Visa had informed various banks about a potential risk to some cards owing to a data breach. Accordingly, we have taken precautionary measures and have blocked cards of certain customers identified by the networks.
I’m a SBI user, day before yesterday without any intimation my account and my debit card associated with it got freezed due to some security reasons (SBI officials stated later) and now it turns out to be a security breach.
meanwhile, HDFC & ICICI has sent out messages to users notifying to change their PIN codes. AXIS bank has hired a team to conduct investigation on this matter. YES bank has said that they had conducted survey on ATM’s, but didn’t find any data breach or hack.
YES bank quoted;
We continue to work with relevant stakeholders, including other public sector and private banks, and NPCI, to ensure utmost safety and security of ATM network and payment services which are completely safe to use
Now, What you should do?
It’s worth mentioning that no damages has recorded yet, though there are some customers who have reported about transactions happening on their cards from China. All the banks are doing necessary to keep the data and their reputation (trust) secure among the users. You should change your PIN codes immediately, even if you are not using the above mentioned bank account.
