Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Chinese bank, ICBC, which operates in the United States (US) was hit by a ransomware attack. This incident disrupted trade in the US on Thursday (9/11).
ICBC adds to the series of victims of ransomware attacks this year. Ransomware is a mode of attack by holding important data hostage to demand a certain ransom from its victims, the majority of whom are private and government institutions.
ICBC Financial Services is a unit operating in the US. ICBC itself is the largest commercial lending bank in the world based on its asset value.
The bank said it was investigating the attack that paralyzed its system, quoted by Reuters, Friday (10/11/2023).
According to several ransomware experts, the attack on ICBC in the US was masterminded by the Lockbit hacker group. However, until now the gang has not named ICBC as its victim.
Lockbit was reluctant to comment on the attack on ICBC.
“It’s unusual for a bank the size of ICBC to be hit by a ransomware attack,” said ransomware expert from the firm Recorded Future, Allan Liska.
According to Liska, it is possible that Lockbit has not announced an attack on ICBC because it is still carrying out the ransom negotiation process.
Since being discovered in 2020, the Lockbit gang has attacked 1,700 organizations in the US, according to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Last month, Lockbit also threatened to release data on airline giant Boeing that had been robbed.
The attack on ICBC is said to have had no major impact. Now, the company’s system has gradually recovered. However, it was not specified further what sensitive data was accessed by the attackers.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
Next Article
Android Application Sends Contact Lists and Photos to China
(fab/fab)