Ransomware attack forces hundreds of small Indian banks to shut down, sources say
A ransomware attack on a technology services provider forced the temporary shutdown of payment systems at nearly 300 small local banks in India, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
They said the attack affected C-Edge Technologies, a provider of banking technology systems to small banks across the country.
C-Edge Technologies did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The Reserve Bank of India, the country’s banking and payments regulator, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a payments systems regulator, said in a public notice issued late Wednesday that it has “temporarily isolated C-Edge Technologies from accessing the retail payments system operated by NPCI.”
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“Customers of banks served by C-Edge will not be able to access the payment system during the quarantine period,” NPCI said.
Nearly 300 small banks have been isolated from the country’s wider payments network to prevent any wider impact, sources with a regulatory body said.
“Most of these are small banks and only about 0.5% of the transaction volume in the country’s payment system is affected,” one of the sources said.
India has nearly 1,500 cooperative and regional banks, mostly operating outside major cities. Some of these banks were affected, sources said.
A second source said NPCI was conducting checks to ensure the attack did not spread.
RBI and Indian cyber security agencies have warned Indian banks about the possibility of Cyber attack Over the past few weeks, banking industry sources and first responders said.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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