ICBC has paid ransom to ‘Lockbit’ over the hack on its US financial services division last week, according to the report by Reuters.
The financial services arm of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was hacked last week as a cybercriminal group Lockbit claimed responsibility for the attack that disrupted trades in the U.S. Treasury market on November 9, 2023.
ICBC did not confirm Reuters’ report, but the market was reportedly back in service since last week.
Authorities in the U.S. have long suggested that hacked targets should not comply with this kind of ransomware group that usually demands the ransom in the form of cryptocurrency since it is harder to trace, in order to break the criminals’ business model. However, some companies do not have many choices but to pay the ransom to get back quickly and avoid any damage that can affect their reputation.
Lockbit has stolen and leaked sensitive data in the cases where the hacked target ignored its ransomware threat.
