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Bank of Baroda has reportedly come under fresh scrutiny following reports of a massive alleged cybersecurity breach that may have exposed around 1TB of sensitive customer and internal banking data on the dark web. The reports surfaced at a time when the public sector lender was already under pressure after reporting a sharp decline in its first-quarter earnings for FY27, leading to a decline in its share price during Monday's trading session.

The alleged breach has not been officially confirmed by the bank, while authorities including CERT-In and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have also not issued any public statement verifying the claims.

Alleged Leak Includes Customer & Internal Banking Records

According to media reports, the leaked database allegedly contains a wide range of customer and banking information. The reportedly exposed records include Aadhaar numbers, customer names, savings and current account details, loan-related information, NetBanking user data, NRI and corporate banking records, branch audits, internal communications, vigilance investigation files, bobWorld audit reports, customer application forms, and branch and ATM-related documents from multiple locations across the country.

The reports claim nearly 1TB of data has been uploaded to the dark web. However, no hacker or cybercriminal group has formally claimed responsibility for the alleged breach so far.

Cybersecurity researcher Srikanth Lakshmanan reportedly reviewed sample files circulating online and described the alleged incident as a "cyber disaster". Some reports have also linked the alleged attack to the hacking group TripleX, although there has been no official attribution or independent verification.

Stock Slips As Earnings & Cyber Concerns Weigh On Sentiment

Investor sentiment remained cautious as Bank of Baroda shares traded lower on Monday.

The stock opened at Rs 243.50 compared with its previous close of Rs 246.45. During the session, it touched an intraday high of Rs 247.70 and a low of Rs 241.90. At the time of reporting, the stock was trading at Rs 244.20, down 0.91 per cent from the previous close.

The decline came after the lender reported a 72 per cent year-on-year fall in net profit for the April-June quarter of FY27.

Net profit stood at Rs 1,278 crore compared with Rs 4,541 crore in the same period last year. The steep decline was largely attributed to a one-time exceptional charge of Rs 5,700 crore arising from the out-of-court settlement of the long-running NMC Health litigation involving the UAE-based healthcare group.

Despite the sharp fall in reported earnings, the bank's underlying business performance remained relatively stable. Excluding the exceptional item, the lender's net profit would have increased by around 22 per cent year-on-year, translating to an estimated Return on Assets (RoA) of about 1.1 per cent.

Bank of Baroda continued to record growth in its lending business during the quarter.

Net Interest Income (NII) rose 9.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 12,524 crore from Rs 11,435 crore. However, Net Interest Margin (NIM) narrowed by 12 basis points sequentially due to lower asset yields. Core fee income also declined 22 per cent compared with the previous year, affecting overall operating performance.

Lower provisioning, supported by the release of standard asset provisions, helped cushion profitability during the quarter.

The lender also reported improvements in asset quality. Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) declined to 1.99 per cent from 2.24 per cent a year earlier, while Net Non-Performing Assets (NNPA) improved to 0.50 per cent from 0.60 per cent. The Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 16.31 per cent, compared with 17.61 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.

No Official Confirmation On Reported Cyberattack

While reports regarding the alleged data leak continue to circulate online, there has been no official confirmation from Bank of Baroda regarding any cybersecurity incident. 

Until there is official clarity, the claims remain unverified. Customers are advised to remain vigilant, regularly monitor their bank accounts for unusual activity, avoid sharing OTPs or banking credentials, and consider updating their NetBanking passwords as a precautionary measure.