SBI Data Leak: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, has come across a major data security issue. A group of dangerous actors (a group of hackers) has claimed to have breached the bank’s data. After this incident, the bank immediately came into action. According to a person involved in the matter, SBI has informed its insurance company about the suspected data breach. The bank is still calculating the scope of the incident. The bank will lodge an insurance claim only after a thorough assessment of the potential loss.
Claims of millions of data leaks on the dark web
The whole affair started when a hacker group claimed to have leaked bank data on the dark web. According to reports, the group has uploaded 2,722 PDF documents with around 3,75,000 rows of data on the dark web. As this is a case involving the country’s largest bank, it is being seriously investigated. SBI itself has examined these records present on the dark web. In this investigation, the bank found 3,897 such customer records, which contain personally identifiable information (PII) of customers.
What customer information was exposed?
The data exposed on the dark web includes very personal information of consumers. According to the report, the leaked data includes customers’ names, mobile numbers, date of birth, email ID and home address. Besides, it has also come to light that it contains details related to loan applications.
1,425 crore cyber insurance policy
According to a report in Economic Times (ET), after this suspected data leak, SBI may seek payment i.e. compensation under its cyber insurance policy. The bank has received from the government insurance company Oriental Insurance Rs. 1,425 crore cyber insurance policy has been taken. A person with knowledge of the matter said SBI is in the process of informing the insurance company about the claim. However, when queries were raised to either SBI or Oriental Insurance regarding the entire matter, there was no response from either.
How will the insurance claim amount be determined?
1,425 crore is the maximum limit (coverage ceiling) of this insurance policy. How much money the bank will get will depend on the policy rules. Besides, along with the nature of the occurrence, it will also be examined whether the damage is covered by the policy or not. According to an insurance broker, a good cyber insurance policy can also cover expenses or liabilities arising from breaches of data protection laws. This is entirely dependent on the policy terms as well as the applicable law. However, various restrictions or exemptions apply to government or regulatory penalties.
The Cyber Security Agency is investigating
After this incident of data leak came to light, SBI has activated its Cyber Incident Response Procedure. The bank has appointed an independent cyber security agency to get to the bottom of the matter. This agency is included in the panel of CERT-In. Currently, the agency is thoroughly investigating the entire matter to find out the real reason behind the data leak along with the loss.
