Security breaches are very common; but this time something ‘Worst’ has happened. Yes, this biggest financial data breach has affected 32 lakh debit cards. As a result of this, banks have blocked their ATM cards, without any advance notice.
Out of these 32 lakh cards, 26 lakh cards are on the Master-Card or Visa platform and 6 lakh are on the RuPay platform.
The main banks to suffer from this breach are HDFC, State Bank Of India, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. The banks have either asked their users to change their security PIN or have blocked their cards and dispatched replacement cards. Unauthorized usage from China locations has been reported and this is the reason why banks have taken this action.
How did this happen?
This breach has originated in the malware that was introduced in the systems that were installed by Hitachi Payment Services. If you aren’t aware, let us tell you that Hitachi provides PoS, ATM and other services. This malware spread like wildfire and soon it affected major banks. What happened was that due to this malware, the fraudsters could easily steal information, which in turn allowed them to steal funds.
The Payments Council Of India has ordered a forensic audit on servers of Indian banks so that the roots of this fraud can be traced. AP Hota, the Managing Director of NPCI stated that “We have received complaints from banks about debit cards being used in China which aroused suspicion.”
Although majority of these fraudulent transactions have hit the Master Card and Visa Network, forensic audit of the whole network is being carried out by Bengaluru-based payment security specialist SISA.
Actions taken!
Appropriate actions have already been taken by HDFC Bank few weeks back. Even its customers who used their ATM cards in non-HDFC Bank ATM were asked to change their ATM PIN and were advised to use just the HDFC Bank ATMs. This is because the security measures at HDFC ATMs are too good.
SBI on the other hand has blocked 6 lakh cards and sent fresh ones to the customers. Moreover, it has also asked customers to change the PINs. Chip-based debit cards are also being issued, so that security isn’t compromised. Even Yes bank has carried out an audit of the ATM machines.
As of now, RBI is looking into this matter; let us see what the outcomes are! Has your card been affected too? Do share your experience in our comments section below.
