Important data of State Bank of India (SBI) customers ranging from mobile numbers to addresses is likely to be leaked. The country’s largest bank has itself informed that the personal information of some of its customers has been exposed on the dark web. After this incident came to light, the bank immediately started investigating the entire matter. The SBI submitted a detailed report to the stock markets on October 21, stating that necessary steps are being taken to keep cyber security in mind. The bank has made it clear that the incident is being taken very seriously.
An important clue found on the dark web
The whole matter started on 16 October 2026. The SBI received alerts from its threat intelligence service provider, CERT-In, and the Defense Cyber Agency. The alert clearly stated that data of bank customers had been leaked on the dark web. As soon as the information was received, the bank started a preliminary investigation. During this period, around 3.75 lakh records present on the dark web were searched. When this data was analyzed in depth, it was found that it contained 3,897 customer records, containing sensitive personally identifiable (PII) information.
Personal details of customers at risk
This potentially leaked data includes customers’ registered mobile number, date of birth, name, gender, email id and their residential address. The matter does not stop here. Besides, metadata of loan related records along with bank branch name, CIF identification number is also available on the dark web. When so much of a person’s personal information reaches the dark side of the Internet, the risk of any type of cyber fraud or phishing attack increases significantly.
Strict security measures have been taken
As soon as the data leak was alerted, the bank took immediate action without any delay. SBI has activated all its important protocols to deal with cyber incidents. An independent cyber security agency has been appointed to investigate the entire matter impartially. This agency is included in the official panel of CERT-In. The main objective of this detailed investigation is to find out how accurate and authentic the data exposed on the dark web is. Along with this, the investigation team is also finding out from where this data was leaked and what is its actual source. The bank wants to ensure that customers do not face any major risk in future.
Banking services are not affected
After this news, it is natural for consumers to fear whether their money is safe. SBI has made it absolutely clear in its official statement that the incident has not adversely affected the core business operations of the bank. The financial operations of the bank or its business activities are going on quite normally. General customers need not worry, as all banking related services continue without any interruption. The bank has assured that the entire situation is being closely monitored.
