HDFC Life Insurance faces data breach, assessing potential impact

HDFC Life Insurance on Monday said there have been some instances of data leaks and assessing the potential impact of this breach.

"We have received communication from an unknown source, who has shared certain data fields of our customers with us, with mala fide intent," HDFC Life said in a regulatory filing.

The company has initiated an information security assessment and data log analysis, it said.

A detailed investigation is underway in consultation with information security experts to assess the root cause and take remedial action, as necessary, it said.

The company continues to investigate this further to assess the potential impact, it said, adding, "We will take utmost care to handle concerns of our customers and take actions to safeguard their interest."

Last month, insurance regulator Irdai directed two insurers to carry out audits of their IT systems following concerns over the recent instances of policyholders' data leaks.

Without naming the insurers, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) had said it takes data breaches very seriously and asserted that it will continue to engage with the companies to ensure that the policyholders' interests are fully protected.

Star Health Insurance had recently admitted data breach. Tata AIG is another insurance company which faced a data leak.

In a release, Irdai had said it is closely monitoring the situation in the case of the concerned insurers and has been in touch with their management.

Regular updates are being obtained to ensure that the policyholders' data and interests are fully protected and the company is taking all steps to arrest the threat posed by this breach, the regulator had said.