Correspondent, 23 October: Personal information belonging to customers of the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest public sector bank, has been leaked on the dark web. The bank itself provided clarification regarding the cyber attack and immediately issued a precautionary alert to ensure customer safety.
According to information shared by SBI on October 21, an examination of approximately 300,000 records on the dark web was conducted. This inspection revealed that the data of 3,897 SBI customers had been compromised. The stolen data contains crucial personal details, including customers' names, dates of birth, gender, registered mobile numbers, email IDs, and residential addresses.
Alongside this personal information, it was discovered that bank branch-related details, Customer Information File (CIF) numbers, lead IDs, and loan records were also exposed. The exact total extent of the information compromised in this cyber attack is not yet fully clear. The dark web, where this information surfaced, is a section of the internet hidden from standard search engines where hackers anonymously and illegally sell stolen data.
Upon learning of the data leak, the bank promptly initiated cyber security procedures. SBI has assigned the responsibility of thoroughly investigating this serious incident to the national cyber security agency, CERT-In. Investigating agencies are currently conducting detailed inquiries to determine the true source of the leak and assess the magnitude of its impact on the affected customers.
Although the incident has raised questions in customers' minds regarding the funds in their accounts, SBI has clarified that the data leak has had no effect on the bank's core operations. All banking transactions are continuing to run smoothly as usual. As a safety measure, the bank has appealed to its customers to avoid clicking on suspicious links and to ignore calls or messages originating from unknown numbers. The bank also urged customers never to share their OTP, passwords, or any other sensitive banking information.
