Cyberattacks affect 20 financial institutions; CERT-In warns on API vulnerabilities and security measures

Mumbai: As many as 20 financial institutions were affected earlier this month by a spate of cyberattacks in which funds were siphoned off using stolen partner-bank credentials, people familiar with the development told ET. In response, banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and fintech firms restricted payment and disbursement application programming interfaces (APIs), said the people cited earlier.

The attacks, which may have involved AI-assisted hacking tools, prompted a critical advisory from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), warning financial institutions to suspend compromised interfaces and strengthen transaction safeguards.