In a relatively rare indecent, a large bank has temporarily ceased all operations after threat actors breached its systems. On Wednesday morning, the Maltese Bank of Valletta (BOV) discovered that hackers were making illicit transfers totaling €13 million ($14.65 million) to various accounts overseas. While the bank blocked the transfers within half an hour, it is not yet clear if this was sufficient to keep the money out of the hands of the hackers.
In response to the attack, the bank closed down all local branches and suspended its ATMs, payment cards as well as mobile and Internet banking applications, causing chaos in local supermarkets, hotels and other businesses that heavily rely on card payments. Some of the services were restored by Thursday morning.
Read more: Bank of Valletta suspended all operations in wake of cyber attack
