Bank of Valletta robbed through cyber-breach
Bank of Valletta (BOV) has suspended all its operations, including ATM machines, point-of-sale systems, online banking, website, and communications systems, after unknown hackers broke into its network and transferred 13 million euro to accounts in the US, the UK, the Czech Republic, and Hong Kong. According to Times of Malta, BoV has confirmed that customer accounts, funds, and data, were not compromised, because hackers breached the payment processing system from BOV’s account, not customers’. Contrary to the initial belief expressed by the Maltese Prime Minister that stolen funds would be retrieved, BOV officials expressed concerns that this may not be possible. Several local businesses that rely on BOV were affected, not being able to process related payments. BOV accounts for about half of Maltese banking transactions.
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