Chilean Bank BancoEstado Shuts Down Operations Following Ransomware Attack


BancoEstado, one of Chile's three biggest banks, was forced to shut down all branches on Monday following a ransomware attack that took place over the weekend.

September 8, 2020 | AtoZ Markets – According to a recent public statement published by BancoEstado was hit by a powerful ransomware attack. The incident forced it to shut down its operations nationwide.

REvil launched BancoEstado ransomware attack

Hacking attacks against banks and other financial institutions are not unheard of. However, more often than not, the banks’ advanced security systems manage to repel the attackers and protect their customers’ funds and private date.

Unfortunately, however, some attackers do manage to find a way to slip by the security. Yesterday, September 7th, BancoEstado announced a shut down of its nationwide operations as the investigation commenced. Citing sources close to the investigation, ZDNet reported that the REvil ransomware gang is behind the attack.

Reportedly, the ransomware came from an Office document that was sent to an employee. The unsuspecting worker opened the file, only to have their device — as well as the rest of the system — infected.

The bank immediately contacted the country’s authorities, who then proceeded to issue an alert, notifying the public sector of potential threats.

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What we know so far

As for BancoEstado itself, IT experts assessed the situation, claiming that it is impossible for the bank to continue operating on Monday. They stated that the damage might be even worse than what it originally seemed.

Fortunately, over the course of the day, the bank managed to reestablish as many as 21 of its branches. However, they were only providing limited services. Only an hour later, however, the bank shut down the services again, for security reasons.

Read also: Hackers Attack Telecom Argentina, Demand $7.5M Monero Ransom

As for REvil, it is a known group that often steals data from their victims and then lists it on its own dark web website, where it offers it to the highest bidder willing to pay in cryptocurrency Monero (XMR).

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