A ransomware attack that took place on the servers of Travelex in Dec’19 reportedly made the company file for a bankruptcy as the foreign exchange services made it official that over 1300 of its staff members will have to face job loss.
PWC, a London based professional services company, has confirmed the news by disclosing that it has been appointed as an administrator of the currency exchange business from now on.
Going deep into the details, the ransomware gang that spreads Sodinokibi or REvil ransomware struck the Britain-based company on the eve of this year so much that the business operations of the company were deeply impacted. The COVID 19 Pandemic spread made the situation worse for the international currency dealer as most of the supermarkets, transit stations and the banking institutions were shut down across the world.
Cybersecurity Insiders learnt that the ransomware gang demanded $6 million as ransom to decrypt the data on the servers and unconfirmed reports suggest that the staff had to bow down to the demands of the hackers as there were left with no other choice rather than to pay the ransom.
Vulnerability in the Pulse Secure VPNs is said to have made the hackers infiltrate the network to plant the file encrypting malware that made the company face a financial loss of £25m – as per the parent company Finablr’s statement.
But a source from Travelex based on the condition of anonymity says that the company still has the chance to recover as the most of the economic losses will be covered by the business & cyber insurance covers.
As per some estimates made by few economists, the company might need £89m for business restructuring and PWC is sure that the Travelex might upbeat the situation with ease as it still has various business options for recovery.
Let’s hope for the best, then….!
