15.8.18

Cosmos Bank’s server hacked

Hackers siphoned off over Rs.94 crore through a malware attack on the server of Pune-based Cosmos Bank, cloning thousands of the bank’s debit cards in two days, a top official said. The fraud was carried out on August 11 and August 13 and the malware attack by the hackers originated in Canada, Cosmos Bank chairman Milind Kale said. “In two days, hackers withdrew a total Rs.78 crore from various ATMs in 28 countries, including Canada, Hong Kong and a few ATMs in India, and another Rs.2.5 crore were taken out within India,” he said.

On August 13, hackers again transferred Rs.13.92 crore in a Hong Kong-based bank. Kale said the bank’s core banking system was not affected and it has appointed a professional forensic agency to investigate the fraud.

While cloning the cards and using a “parallel” switch system, the hackers self-approved the transactions and withdrew over Rs.80.5 crore in 15,000 transactions.

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