Foreign Exchange company, Travelex, has been held ransom by hackers since New Year’s Eve. The attack forced the company to turn off all computer systems and resort to using pen and paper across its sites globally.
Visiting the company’s sites, you will see a pop-up message announcing the attack. See sample below
The hackers are demanding a ransom to give the firm access to its systems. They have demanded payment in exchange for either restoration of IT systems or the preservation of customer data. The ransom company is demanding $6million or Travelex systems would be shut down and customer data made available online.
It is understood that a deadline for payment has been set by the cyber criminals.
The Metropolitan Police has been notified of the attack and is leading the investigation.
According to the police in a statement, “On Thursday, 2 January, the Met’s Cyber Crime Team were contacted with regards to a reported ransomware attack involving a foreign currency exchange. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.”
Travelex says it is working with police and has deployed teams of IT specialists and external cyber security experts who have been working continuously.
The Travelex websites across Europe, Asia and the US have been offline since 31 December with a message to visitors that it is down due to “planned maintenance”.
Travelex’s decision to take down its site has meant the large network of other firms that use its services cannot sell currency online.
Travelex however says no customer data has been compromised “to date,” but has not elaborated or provided evidence for the claim.
