Do You Know Your ATM Card Is Hacked.??
Initial reports
suggest that this could be the biggest financial breach ever reported in India
with State Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC, Yes Bank, and ICICI as the worst hit
banks. It sure is worrisome considering almost everyone has a debit card these days
and 32 lakh is a big number. So is your card also affected by the breach? If
yes, what should be your next step, we explain everything.
How Serious Is This?
According to the
report, around 26 lakh of these cards are on Visa and Mastercard platform, while
over 6 lakh are on the Rupay platform.
SBI has confirmed that
it has blocked over 6 lakh debit cards in India after card network companies
like NCPI, MasterCard and Visa informed the affected banks about a possible
data breach. SBI also commented that the breach did not involve its own ATM
machines and networks.
"We'd like to
emphasise that SBI's systems have absolutely not been compromised and existing
card holders are not at any risk and can continue to use their cards. SBI is in
the process of issuing new cards at no cost to those card holders whose cards
have been blocked. This is a cards industry incident (not only SBI)," a
SBI spokesperson said.
The Reserve Bank of
India has also received complaints from the affected banks. According to The
Hindu, the RBI has asked the banks to replace 17.5 lakh debit cards.
Customers have been
receiving cautionary messages from their respective banks asking them to change
the ATM PIN. Axis Banks resorted to blocking the ATMs till the PIN was changed
from the bank's ATM. Yes Bank also limited the cash withdrawal to maximum Rs
5,000 per day till the PIN was changed.
HDFC has also notified
its users to change the PIN weeks before the reports of breach went public. The
bank has also told its customers to not to use HDFC debit card in some other
bank's ATM machine.
"Besides advising
those customers who we know have used a non-HDFC Bank ATM in the recent past to
change (their) ATM PIN, we are advising our customers to use only HDFC Bank
ATMs as we believe security controls at some of the other bank ATMs may not be
at par with HDFC Bank ATMs," a spokesperson told ET.
Also Read : 9 Ways To Keep Your Debit Card Safe From Hackers
Also Read : 9 Ways To Keep Your Debit Card Safe From Hackers
How Did It Happen?
The card network
companies, Visa, MasterCard and Rupay, have received complaints from banks
about unauthorised card usage from locations in China.
According to reports,
the breach could have generated in Hitachi Payment Services. Hitachi is one of
the largest providers for Point of Sale services, ATM machines and mobile
transactions in India. A malware in the Hitachi system could have compromised
user data.
It is suggested that
the malware was active for about six weeks before getting detected. While the
banks haven't shared more information on the type or extent of the attack, the
Payments Council of India has ordered a forensic audit on Indian bank servers
and systems to find the origin of breach.
SBI and other banks
have denied any breach in their systems, however, the possibility of
system-wide breach at this early stage cannot be denied. We will (possibly)
have more information in this regard in the coming days.