PNB Hyderabad Holds Cyber Awareness Workshop for Staff on Social Engineering Threats

The Hyderabad Zonal Office of Punjab National Bank organised a Zonal-Level Official Language Workshop on cyber awareness and social engineering threats for its personnel in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The workshop, titled ‘Cyber Awareness and Social Engineering: The Way Forward’, was held under the chairpersonship of Vandana Pandey, General Manager and Zonal Manager for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. More than 100 staff members took part in the training session.

Participants included Deputy Zonal Managers, Deputy General Managers, Assistant General Managers, and Circle Heads representing offices across Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam.

Speaking at the event, Vandana Pandey highlighted that the primary objective of the session was to build awareness among bank personnel regarding cybercrime and the evolving tactics of social engineering. She noted that cybercriminals do not merely exploit technical vulnerabilities in systems, but actively target human behaviour and psychological weaknesses.

The session focused on various methods used by cyber fraudsters to manipulate individuals. These threats include the use of deepfakes, fraudulent phone calls, suspicious emails, deceptive text messages, and malicious web links.

The workshop also addressed common scam tactics, such as approaching victims under the pretext of mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) updates, soliciting one-time passwords (OTPs) or account passwords, and impersonating senior officials to exert psychological pressure. Bank officials noted that these schemes frequently rely on inducing fear or greed to compromise security.

Key officials present at the workshop included Deputy Zonal Manager Shravan Kumar, Deputy General Manager Ajay Kumar, and Chief Manager (Official Language) Dr. Saket Sahay, alongside other zonal representatives.