Nippon Mutual Fund Website Down Since Cyberattack

The website of Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd, the largest mutual fund in India by number of investors, has been offline since a cyberattack hit its IT infrastructure on April 9. The home page remains accessible, but users are unable to log in due to the incident.

According to an exchange filing, Nippon Life wrote that there was an "incident involving a cyber attack" on its IT systems. It stated that steps were taken immediately to investigate and respond to the incident, including shutting down affected systems. The company is working with leading cybersecurity experts to identify the extent of the issue and take remedial action as necessary.

The website was shut down to protect sensitive data from its registrar and transfer agent (RTA) K-fintech, a source revealed. Nippon Life aims to insulate this data from potential breaches. "We are surprised that it's been like this for almost a week now," said Amol Joshi, a mutual fund distributor. Normally, routine maintenance would occur at midnight.

Despite the downtime, investors can continue to transact through alternative channels. Emails from Nippon Life AMC containing addendums have had PDF attachments since the incident. Previously, these included links to notices on the company's website. Amol Joshi further noted that emails to distributors also contained attachments.

Nippon Life India Asset Management Chief Technical Officer Abhijit Shah stated, "Due to a cyber incident on our IT infrastructure on April 9, transactions through digital assets like websites and mobile applications are inaccessible due to maintenance activity being carried out. We regret this inconvenience."

Shah assured that preliminary investigations showed no compromise on investor data or systems. All branches, RTA (registrar and transfer agent) i.e. KFintech, and alternative digital channels like exchanges, MF Central, MF Utilities, are available for investors to transact with Nippon Life.

Shah added that the AMC has strict security protocols in place and all systems are continuously monitored. The company is working on restoring services as soon as possible and assures its investors that their investments and data are completely safe within the environment. Relevant authorities like Cert-in, SEBI, stock exchanges have been informed of the incident.

As a result of the cyberattack, Nippon Life India Asset Management's stock gained 3% to close at ₹598 on Thursday. It has seen a 5.5% increase since April 11, when the attack was reported.