BKC Police Book Hackers for Stealing Over 1TB Data from Nationalised Bank

The BKC police in Mumbai registered an FIR on August 28 against an unidentified suspect after the email account of a nationalised bank's credit manager was compromised, leading to the alleged theft of confidential data from several branches across the country.

The cyber breach came to light after the bank's chief information security officer, KR Ajaykumar, received a warning email on July 9. The email claimed that a hacker group calling itself "Triple X" had penetrated the bank's network and downloaded more than one terabyte of sensitive records. The hackers issued a threat stating they would publish the stolen data publicly unless the bank responded within a few days.

According to investigators, the message was sent directly from the email account of Lalbahadur Khandwar, a credit manager handling the loan department at the bank's Mahilay branch in Gujarat. The warning was also marked and copied to multiple senior officials and other employees across the financial institution.

A police officer from the BKC police station stated that the compromised data included sensitive customer documentation, such as account holders' re-KYC forms, mobile-number change request forms, and a gold loan agreement. The perpetrators also claimed to possess trade secrets, personal data, and financial records belonging to the bank.

Following the incident, the bank conducted an internal inquiry into the unauthorized access and subsequently approached the police to initiate legal action.

No arrests have been made in connection with the cyber attack so far. The cyber team at the BKC police station has sought technical details and is actively tracking the relevant internet protocol address to locate the person responsible and determine the precise method used to breach the bank's network infrastructure.