Police in India have launched a formal investigation of a malware attack on a Cosmos Bank ATM server that enabled attackers to siphon off US$13.4 million. The hackers cloned the bank’s Visa and Rupay debit cards and used them to siphon cash from ATMs on Aug. 11 and Aug. 13, according to the bank.
An investigation revealed the hackers had stolen information of the bank’s VISA and RuPay card customers through malware and had attacked the SWIFT system, an interbank messaging system.
Cosmos Bank, India’s oldest bank and based in Pune, said in a press statement that its main banking software receives debit card payment requests via a “switching system” but it was bypassed in the attack.
“During the malware attack, a proxy switch was created and all the fraudulent payment approvals were passed by the proxy switching system,” the bank said.
