NPCI blames Cosmos Bank for malware attacks
Mumbai, Aug 15: The National Payments Corp of India (NPCI) on Wednesday held the Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd's "own IT environment" responsible for the unprecedented cyber loot which left the Pune-based bank poorer by Rs 94.42 crore.
In a statement here, the NPCI's Head Risk Management, Bharat Panchal, said: "The NPCI's systems are fully secure and this particular issue has occurred within the (Cosmos Bank's) own IT environment.
"This has happened due to malware-based attack on the bank's IT system which has caused a fraud. Under the attack, maximum transactions have been reported from outside India."
He reiterated that the systems of NCPI - the umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India - "were absolutely secure and it was continuously monitoring the situation arising out of the Cosmos Bank episode".
The Indian banking industry went in shudders on Tuesday after the Cosmos Bank admitted that it had fallen victim to an international group of hackers who siphoned off a total of Rs 94.24 crore in two cyber attacks on August 11 and August 13.
In the first cyber hit, the bank lost Rs 80.50 crore through multiple ATM swipes in 28 countries.
In the second malware assault, the hackers gobbled up Rs 13.92 crore by initiating SWIFT transfers.
Cosmos Bank Chairman Milind A. Kale said that after the malware attack on the critical communication system between various payment gateways was hacked, the hackers' gangs were informed simultaneously in 28 countries and they immediately started the withdrawals, in many cases small amounts of around $100, to avoid rousing suspicions.
He said normally, the Core Banking System (CBS) receives debit card payment requests via its 'Switching System'. But during the malware attack, a proxy switch was created and all the fraudulent payment approvals were passed through the proxy switching system.
Kale said the bank's own servers and other systems were inspected annually by the Reserve Bank of India Audit and System Audit and the bank was ensuring all the measures for data security and this security system was fully operational.
Banking experts and industry players fear this could be a 'pilot run' unless the authorities take it seriously.
Meanwhile, pending investigations, the country's second oldest and second largest cooperative bank (in terms of deposits and advances) has now shut all its ATMs across the country for two days till Thursday to prevent any further incidents.
The consolation was the Kale's assurance that none of the bank's 20 lakh customer accounts across 140 branches in the country have been affected nor would they bear any loss.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
PM Modi speaks to Iranian president, discusses 'serious' situation in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone and discussed the "serious situation" in West Asia.
Modi expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions in the region and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure.
The prime minister told the Iranian President that the safety and security of Indian nationals, along with the need for unhindered transit of goods and energy, remain India's top priorities.
“Had a conversation with Iranian President, Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, to discuss the serious situation in the region. Expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure,” Modi said in a post on X.
The prime minister also reiterated India's commitment to peace and stability and urged dialogue and diplomacy to end the crisis.
The prime minister had spoken to leaders of several West Asian countries in the last 10 days in the wake of the coordinated offensive launched against Iran by the United States and Israel, in which the Islamic country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed last month.
In retaliation, Iran has fired drones and missiles at Israel and US military installations around the Gulf region, including the global business and aviation hubs of Dubai and Doha.
Modi earlier spoke to the leaders of Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Israel and Qatar, and expressed concern over the attacks on their countries, and condemned the violation of some nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also discussed the welfare and security of the Indian community residing in those countries.
Around 1 crore Indians live in the Gulf and West Asia. While about 10,000 Indian citizens live, study and work in Iran, more than 40,000 live in Israel.
