Reports say a ransomware attack temporarily shut down payment systems at nearly 300 small local banks in India. Customers couldn’t access services like ATM withdrawals or UPI payments. The attack targeted C-Edge Technologies, which provides banking technology to these banks.
Officials told PTI that other banking services are functioning normally. In a statement, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said, “C-Edge Technologies has possibly been impacted by a ransomware attack affecting a few of their systems,” which led to the temporary isolation of C-Edge from NPCI-operated retail payment systems.
300 Banks Face Problems
Dileep Sanghani, chairman of the National Cooperative Union of India, told PTI that nearly 300 banks in India, including 17 district cooperative banks in Gujarat that use C-Edge, have had problems for the past two to three days. He said, “All online transactions, like RTGS and UPI payments, are affected. Money is deducted from the sender’s account but does not reach the receiver’s account.”
The NPCI told Reuters that customers of banks using C-Edge won’t be able to access payment systems while C-Edge is isolated.
The statement also said that restoration work is progressing quickly with C-Edge Technologies and a mandatory security review is in progress.
The breach was discovered two days ago. C-Edge, a joint venture between SBI and TCS, provides services to cooperative banks and regional rural banks, which have been affected. Officials noted that other banking services are still working. To protect the overall payments system, necessary steps, including isolating the C-Edge system, were taken after the breach was found.
An industry official told PTI that a ransomware was found and contained within the system, leading to a third-party audit. The official also mentioned that the affected banks account for less than 1 percent of the country’s total payment system volume. PTI reported that no financial losses have been reported despite the incident.
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