SBI informs all affected customers after dark‑web data breach hits nearly 4,000 accounts

State Bank of India (SBI) announced on Friday that it has individually informed all customers whose personal data appeared on the dark web after a breach that exposed nearly 4,000 records. The bank said each customer was contacted by email or WhatsApp. It reiterated that account balances and funds remain safe. SBI urged customers to follow safe digital banking habits, never share OTP, PIN or password, and stay alert to suspicious calls, messages or emails. The bank had faced criticism for not notifying customers earlier, even though it had reported the incident to stock exchanges. On October 21, SBI told the exchanges that it received alerts from its Threat Intelligence Service Provider, the Defence Cyber Agency and CERT‑In about a possible data exposure. Preliminary analysis of roughly 375,000 records found on the dark web identified 3,897 customer records containing personally identifiable information. The exposed details included mobile numbers, dates of birth, names, gender, email addresses, residential addresses, branch and CIF identifiers, lead IDs and loan‑related metadata. SBI said a detailed investigation is underway to confirm the authenticity and completeness of the data, pinpoint the source and assess the risk to customers.

Context

Data breaches of large banks can lead to identity theft if personal details are misused, and regulators require banks to notify exchanges and customers promptly.