French regional bank Credit Mutuel Arkea has been the victim of a cyberattack that resulted in fraudulent transactions, the credit institution said on Wednesday. According to media reports, the damage could amount to 133 million dollars, or 118 million euros. The bank itself has not confirmed that figure.
Credit Mutuel Arkea is part of the Credit Mutuel financial group, whose headquarters are in western France. The bank said the attack was "brought under control" and that there would be "no financial consequences" for clients. Details of exactly how the attackers penetrated the system, and who may be behind the attack, were not disclosed.
The estimated damage figure was first reported by independent researcher ZachXBT, who specializes in tracking funds in the blockchain, the distributed database that underlies cryptocurrency transfers. The data was later picked up by media outlets. According to the investigator, the stolen funds were moved through several accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges.
The bank said that after detecting the attack, specialists immediately began work. As a precaution, it was decided to temporarily suspend certain operations in order to secure the system and prevent further fraudulent activity. Operations are expected to resume shortly, provided final checks are completed and an adequate level of security is ensured.
The incident occurred amid heightened vigilance among European companies: in recent days there has been an increase in suspicious hacks of refrigerators and freezers in supermarkets, which has caused disruptions to operations.