Hacking of Mumbai Execs Bank account 1 crore stolen in 45 minutes

Yesterday, a Mumbai's Executive's Bank account was hacked and Rs.1 crore was transferred from his Yes Bank account to different accounts across the country.  The funds were transferred using Real Time Gross Settlement mechanism (RTGS). 

The police are yet in the dark as to how this crime was perpetrated. You can read the full article in this Time of India page.  The crime may have been committed for a variety of reasons like Mr.Korane, the victim may have divulged his account details in some email or accessed his bank account in a hacked computer.  

But was the security loop hole in Java used?  This question came to me as I have already written a article about this loophole being sold in the US by hackers for $5000.00.  This may be investigated into by the agencies.  If it is so than this may be the first crime using the security lapse in Java in India.  I am not saying that the hacking may have been done through this loop hole but it remains a strong possibility.  

Anyways, I request all readers to disable Java, until a suitable solution is found by Oracle Corp.  Never reply a email from your bank, always type your banks address on your own in the browsers address window, check whether the http has a extra s in front of it and the colour of address bar changes to green with a lock in front of https, if so,  then proceed with your transaction.

Meanwhile Apple has Thursday blocked Java from running on  Mac computers which are connected internet.  The users were shocked to some of their internet scripts relying on Java, blocked.  There was not comment from Oracle Corp. regarding this.

Check out the screen shot below :

I know many users just type the banks name in search box of Google and visit the account by clicking the results there,  this is safe method, please avoid it.  Always type the address of the Banks website in the address bar or by clicking Ctrl + O in Internet Explorer.  Report any emails received from the bank, to your bank authorities, RBI and email it anti-phishing org at reportphishing@antiphishing.org.  This will save others from falling prey to these kind of attacks.  

Tutorial on disabling Java is given by me here.

Feel free to comment on the article.

Vijay Prabhu