Mumbai: Global technology company Salesforce on Saturday said it had found no evidence of a security vulnerability in its platform linked to the suspected data leak involving AU Small Finance Bank, a day after the lender confirmed that it was investigating claims of a possible breach affecting its vehicle loan customers.

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"Based on currently available information, we have not identified a vulnerability in the Salesforce platform related to this issue," the customer relationship management (CRM) software provider said in a statement.

The clarification comes amid allegations by a hacker group that it had gained access to sensitive customer and internal records belonging to AU Small Finance Bank.

On Friday, the private sector lender acknowledged that it was examining a potential data leak involving a Salesforce-hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform containing limited information about its vehicle loan customers.

"AU Small Finance Bank is investigating a potential data leak involving a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform managed and hosted by Salesforce, which holds limited data relating to our vehicle loan customers. We reaffirm that the bank's own systems remain unaffected and all banking services are operating normally," the lender had said in a statement.

Salesforce, meanwhile, maintained that it does not publicly discuss individual customer matters as a matter of policy. The company said its teams were proactively working to assist customers wherever necessary.

Hackers claim access to sensitive banking records

The controversy emerged after a hacking group identified as ScarlettGroup claimed to have breached AU Small Finance Bank's cyber defences and threatened to release confidential customer information and internal corporate records.

Cyber threat intelligence platform Hackmanac highlighted the group's claims in a social media post on Thursday, detailing the categories of information allegedly compromised.

"According to the attackers, the compromised information includes KYC records, personal identification documents, PAN and Aadhaar details, credit reports, bank statements, loan applications, signed agreements, insurance records, CRM data, employee information, login histories, and audit logs," Hackmanac said.

However, Hackmanac cautioned that the claims had not yet been independently verified.

The alleged exposure of identity documents and financial records has raised concerns over the potential misuse of sensitive customer information. However, there has been no independent confirmation that the hackers successfully accessed or extracted the data they claim to possess.

Cyberattack concerns grow across banking sector

The development comes amid a series of reported cyberattack claims involving major Indian financial institutions.

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, and private sector banking major ICICI Bank have also been named among entities potentially affected by recent cyber incidents.

The latest allegations have brought renewed attention to cybersecurity risks in India's financial sector, particularly the protection of sensitive customer information stored on third-party technology platforms.

On October 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that cyberattacks could be used to weaken India's economy and urged stakeholders to strengthen their preparedness against emerging digital threats.

Modi made the remarks while inaugurating the Reserve Bank of India's Rs 169-crore data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the suspected AU Small Finance Bank data leak remains underway, with the lender maintaining that its core banking systems are secure and its services continue to operate normally.