Bank hackers have a new trick to get ransom money
Here’s one type of bank hack we don’t see that often. Rather than go for the money directly, hackers breached a Liechtenstein-Based bank to steal customer data. They used that data to blackmail victims. Unless affected customers pay 10% of their deposits in Bitcoin, the hackers threaten to expose their tax-evading practices.
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Attackers got the data from a Chinese-owned bank based in the small European country. Customers of Valartis Bank Liechtenstein have been contacted by hackers who demanded 10% of their life savings to avoid having their financial details set to finance authorities and the media, Bild reports.
“The attacker did not obtain details of the account statement or asset data,” Chief Financial Officer Fong Chi Wah said. “Possible affected customers have already been informed by the bank.” The bank also said that hackers did not steal any money from the accounts.
Even so, hackers may have stolen gigabytes of account information and correspondence since October last year.
The attackers want to be paid in Bitcoin to avoid detection, and they have set a December 7th deadline for the payments.
Interestingly, the hackers claim that the bank decided not to pay them for security services, which is why they resorted to extortion practices.
As Business Insider explains, there are many high net worth individuals among Valartis Liechtenstein’s customers, including politicians and actors.
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