Liechtenstein bank's Chinese parent says no money losses in hacker attack

Citychamp Watch & Jewellery

29/11/2016 01:58

HONG KONG, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Valartis Bank, a Liechtenstein 
lender, was targeted by a hacker but account statement data was 
not obtained and no money losses have been identified so far, 
the Chinese parent of the bank said on Tuesday. 
    A German newspaper reported on Sunday that customers of the 
bank were told by unknown blackmailers they must pay a portion 
of their savings or face having account details sent to finance 
authorities and the media.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1DS09P 
    The hackers were demanding 10 percent of the account 
balances, to be paid in Internet cryptocurrency Bitcoin to help 
preserve anonymity, Bild am Sonntag said. 
    Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Ltd  0256.HK , which 
bought a majority stake in the bank from Swiss-listed Valartis 
Group  VLRT.S  this year, said in a statement that an 
investigation by the bank and authorities had confirmed that the 
core system of bank had not been affected. 
     "The attacker did not obtain details of the account 
statement or asset data," Chief Financial Officer Fong Chi Wah 
said in the statement. "Possible affected customers have already 
been informed by the bank." 
    Trade in Citychamp's Hong Kong-listed shares slumped as much 
as 12 percent in thin trade on Tuesday morning after being 
suspended on Monday. 
    The attacker obtained unauthorized access to the bank's 
e-banking system and obtained information on payment orders, 
Citychamp said. Representatives of the bank were not immediately 
available to confirm details as reported by Bild am Sonntag. 
    The bank is cooperating with relevant authorities and 
external specialists have confirmed that the bank's information 
technology infrastructure complies with security standards, 
Citychamp added.    
         
 
 (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) 
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6470; Reuters 
Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: LIECHTENSTEIN BANK/CYBERCRIME