China’s largest bank, ICBC, hit by a ransomware attack

ICBC, China’s largest and most prominent bank, recently fell victim to a ransomware attack that echoed throughout the global financial system, causing turmoil in the US Treasury market.

This incident on China’s most prominent financial organisation, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, forced the United States Treasury Market clients to reroute trades since the incident still poses uncertainty and concerns. Moreover, the attack has caused widespread disruption throughout every bank affiliate and Treasury market trade.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association urgently communicated with its members about the hostile situation to address the problem.

A Treasury representative also revealed that they are aware of the cybersecurity issue, so they regularly contact key financial sector participants and federal regulators to learn more and monitor the situation.

 

The ransomware attack on ICBC had been a hot topic in the hacking community before it came out to the public.

 

Based on reports, the ransomware attack on ICBC had been within the hacking community even before its impact became apparent. A security research group revealed that the attack had severely impacted “all of ICBC’s clearing customers.” 

Initially, there were speculations that it might have been a technical issue, which would have been problematic. Unfortunately, researchers expressed their concerns when the investigation confirmed that the nature of the cyberattack is ransomware, labelling it as a much worse scenario.

With assets exceeding an astounding $6 trillion, ICBC is China’s largest commercial lender and a global financial giant. The bank is the home of approximately 435,000 employees and is primarily owned by the Chinese government. As the news of the attack emerged, markets and financial institutions worldwide came to a complete halt, worried about the potential consequences.

ICBC is currently trying to restore its services as of yesterday. However, the complete scope of the damage and the implications of the ransomware attack on the bank’s operations and clients remain unclear.  This event is a developing story, and the global financial community anxiously awaits more details and developments regarding the ICBC ransomware attack. Still, the finance community can just hope for the best and prepare for the worst.