Industry Intrusion Spotlight: Cyber Intrusion Shuts Down Malta’s Bank of Valletta

On February 13th, a cyber intrusion prompted one of Malta’s largest banks, the Bank of Valletta, to shut down operations, according to the bank and the government of Malta. Early on the 13th, the bank started noticing discrepancies in international transactions, and later that day, state security services provided information from an undisclosed private company indicating the bank was a target of a cyber intrusion. Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stated initial indications are that the intrusion originated overseas. The bank has suspended operations and disabled its website to minimize continuing risk and assess its systems, which has affected use of BOV-issued cards and point-of-sale equipment. In total, the hackers attempted to send 13 million euros of false international payments to banks in the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Britain, and the U.S., which the bank has traced and requested to be stopped. The funds did not come from customer accounts, and the bank has stated customers were not affected.

This information is preliminary, and we expect additional information to become available about this intrusion. Currently, neither the bank nor the Maltese government have provided information on how the intrusion occurred. ZeroFOX will provide noteworthy updates on this situation should they become available.