Wealthy Customers Of Valartis Bank Under Attack From Bitcoin Hackers

Valartis Bank Liechtenstein is reported to have been attacked by hackers demanding a ransom in Bitcoins.

According to a report from German media, hackers have attacked the Valartis e-banking system and stolen the bank’s customer information. Now the attackers are demanding a ransom of 10% of Valartis bank’s customers’ account balances in Bitcoin to be paid before December 7, 2016.

The e-mail from the hackers states:

"If you pay ten percent of your credit to us, the case will be closed without any consequences"

Otherwise, the hackers have threatened to send customers’ personal details to the media and tax authorities.

Among Valartis bank’s customers are politicians and wealthy individuals and it seems that they could be the main target of the hackers. Moreover, hackers are claiming that the threat is real. "My team and I have been working in the field of IT security for more than 30 years," the e-mail states.

Fong Chi Wah, CEO of Valartis, commented:

“The attacker did not obtain details of the account statement or asset data and possible affected customers have already been informed by the bank.” 

To date, the claim has been sent to local authorities, who have launched an investigation.