New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) is investigating the possibility of records of 3,897 customers being exposed on the 'dark web'. These records include personally identifiable information about customers. The bank had received vigilance alerts in this regard from its risk intelligence service provider, Defense Cyber Agency and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on October 16.
SBI informed the stock market on Wednesday that in the preliminary analysis of about 3.75 lakh records available on the 'Dark Web', 3,897 customer records were found. These included sensitive information like registered mobile number, date of birth, name, gender, email addresses and residential addresses. According to the bank, the exposed information also includes identifiers linked to branch and customer information files (CIF), lead IDs and 'metadata' linked to loan and lead records and other related files.
SBI said that a detailed investigation is necessary to confirm the authenticity and completeness of the exposed data, determine the possible source and scope of the information exposed and assess the associated risks to customers and the bank. The bank said that it has immediately activated the parameters set to deal with the cyber incident and prevent its spread. It has also engaged the services of an independent cyber security agency empaneled with CERT-In for investigation and comprehensive assessment of the alleged breach. According to regulatory information, this incident has no material impact on the bank's core business operations, financial performance or business continuity. The bank's operations continued normally without any interruption. The bank said that a detailed assessment is being done and corrective and precautionary measures are being taken.
SBI said it is closely monitoring the situation and taking all appropriate steps in line with applicable regulatory requirements. The 'Dark Web' is the hidden part of the Internet that cannot be searched by normal search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo. This usually requires special software or browser.
Also read: Stock Market News: The stock market has returned to its glory! Jio IPO also got a great start…Sensex jumped 823 points, Nifty crossed 23,100.