While the government has been promoting digital money transactions as the way forward, a $171 million hack in one of the state-run banks has emerged.
According to a report in The Hindu, in July 2016, $171 million from the Union Bank of India was routed to seven different countries before the money was finally recovered by the authorities in July 2016.
The report mentions that the hunt across seven countries took place with top government officials being involved and that further details were not forthcoming. It however quotes Dr. Gulshan Rai, India’s first Chief Information Security Officer confirming the attack.
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“We worked in record time with the Reserve Bank of India, bank authorities and government agencies coordinating efforts. The bank succeeded in blocking the transfer of funds and credited the entire amount in a record period of six days,” he told the newspaper.
He reportedly added that investigation had been carried out by the agencies involved and suggestions to improve security had been accepted.
The week-long saga began after a bank-employee had clicked on malware that he received on his email account. The report mentions that on July 20 last year, a UBI official in the treasury department noticed the glaring omission of Rs 11,02,42,16,100.00 (according to the current going-rate) in payments. The amount had reportedly been withdrawn without his consent.
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The report adds that by the time authorities higher-up was aware of what had happened, the money found itself in banks at Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia. The money was reportedly sent across by Citibank and JP Morgan Chase in New York, who hold UBI’s foreign exchange accounts.
The Hindu further says that officials within the Ministry of External Affairs and other South Block officials were called into action. The report adds that getting the money back from Taiwan was tricky since the government does not have diplomatic ties with India and it required a push from US officials.
Since November 8, 2016, the day that Prime Minister Modi announced demonetisation, the government has been pushing for cashless transactions and the need to go digital with your money.
