Bank Melli Iran, owned by the government, has denied recent claims about leaks of customers' personal data.
"Security teams of the bank and its subsidiaries looked into the claims soon after it was reported on social media. Work is still underway, but we have not found any data compromised so far," BMI's public relations department said on its website on Wednesday.
Some social media channels published stories about a possible breach in the personal data of 75 million customers of the top lender, claiming that the data was put up for sale on online platforms.
Leakfa website, specializing in data security, published some photos of the reported leaked data, though it stressed that the images were not enough to confirm wrongdoing. The images included bank customers' personal IDs as well as their banking information.
The BMI clarified that it remains committed to the highest security norms on its digital platforms, adding that it uses data protection solutions to regularly monitor its digital platforms and infrastructure to prevent potential data breach.
Data breach has different forms and can lead to financial loss. Some recent changes have made the situation worse. The shift to digital financial records, mobile banking and heavy reliance on cloud services are some cases. These give opportunity to cybercriminals to profit from sensitive financial information of others.
Bank Melli is the first national Iranian bank established in 1927 on the orders of the parliament and since then has been a key player in the financial industry.
Since 1933, BMI has grown to become a large retail bank with domestic and international branches. It opened its first foreign branch in Hamburg in 1965.
