New York-based fintech company EquiLend suffered a cyberattack on Monday, which led to the shutdown of some of its systems and affected its operations.
The company detected unauthorized access to its network and is now working to restore all affected services.
“On January 22, 2024, EquiLend identified a technical issue that took parts of our systems offline,” an EquiLend spokesperson told BleepingComputer.
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“We immediately launched an investigation and identified a cybersecurity involving unauthorized access to our systems. We took immediate steps to secure our systems and are working methodically to restore the affected services as soon as possible.“.
EquiLend is working with external cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident. The investigation and restoration process may take several days.
The investigation is also focused on finding evidence that could indicate a possible breach of customer data.
Equilend acquisition
News of the cyberattack comes less than a week after Equilend announced it would be acquired by US firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS).
While we don't have details about the attack, the FBI warned that ransomware gangs often target companies involved in "time-sensitive financial events," including mergers and acquisitions, as this makes it easier to blackmail their victims.
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“Imminent events that could affect the value of a victim’s stock, such as announcements, mergers and acquisitions, encourage ransomware actors to target a network or adjust their extortion timeline,” the FBI said.
What are the most common forms of cyberattacks on FinTech companies?
Cyberattacks on FinTech companies take many forms, but some of the most common include fraud email, where attackers pretend to be trusted entities to obtain sensitive information.
Another very common type of cyberattack is ransomware, where attackers encrypt a company's data and demand a ransom to decrypt it.
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DDoS attacks are also very common, with attackers flooding a company's network to disrupt its operations.
Finally, malware attacks are often used to steal sensitive information or cause damage to company systems.
source: www.bleepingcomputer.com
