SBI website faces hacking attempt

India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said it has resolved the “technical problem” with its website, which had become temporarily unavailable due to a reported hacking attempt.

An attempted attack caused a shutdown of State Bank of India’s (SBI) website on Saturday. “There has been an attempt to disrupt the system,” a senior official confirmed. But he refused to divulge any further details. While the bank’s internet banking site www.onlinesbi.com was operational, its sites www.statebankofindia.com and www.sbi.co.in were down on Saturday.

Late evening, officials said that the bank was targeting to get its website operational by 9.00pm. Later the bank put up a message stating that site was under maintenance and directed online applicants to clerical positions to the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection site.

Last year Bank of India’s website had fallen victim to hackers who planted malaware on the site that installs itself on the users computer and transmits sensitive information to the hacker. Besides this there have been phishing attempts on customers of various banks where the hacker puts up a website identical to that of a bank to steal passwords.

The sites are maintained by the bank’s IT department based out of the SBI Gobal IT Centre in Belapur.

Meanwhile, SBI has launched internet kiosks at ATMs at railway stations to enable customers avail themselves of services like ticket reservation and utility bill payments among other basic banking services.

The bank plans to set up 383 similar kiosks by the end of this financial year. At the kiosks, the bank’s customers can book their tickets through the IRCTC gateway and get a printed electronic slip instantly.

For the service, customers will have to pay Rs 10 per booking to SBI, besides the fees that IRCTC charges.

The bank plans to set up 383 similar kiosks by the end of this financial year. At the kiosks, the bank’s customers can book their tickets through the IRCTC gateway and get a printed electronic slip instantly.

For the service, customers will have to pay Rs 10 per booking to SBI, besides the fees that IRCTC charges.

SBI is the country’s largest bank with over three million online customers. The number of people with access to internet banking has increased dramatically after SBI installed its core banking solutions in over 11,100 branches across the country. In the past too, government website have been attacked by hackers who left behind anti-India slogans.