SafeUM
Home Blog Services Download Help About Recharge
EN
RU

Axarhöfði 14, 110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015
SafeUM
Blog
Services
Download
Help
About
Recharge
Menu
EN
Lang
EN
RU
Archive
TOP Security!
29 Apr 2016

Qatar National Bank investigating alleged data hack

Qatar National Bank, the largest lender in the Middle East and Africa by assets, is investigating an alleged security breach of data posted online this week that revealed the names and passwords of a large number of customers.

A 1.5GB trove of leaked documents includes the bank details, telephone numbers and dates of birth of several journalists for satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera, supposed members of the ruling al-Thani family and government and defense officials.

Some files had pictures of account holders from Facebook and LinkedIn, according to the report on the anonymously leaked files. QNB said it was investigating "social media speculation in regard to an alleged data breach" and would not comment on reports circulated via social media. But it assured "all concerned that there is no financial impact on our clients or the bank."

A copy of the leaked content contained transaction data of QNB customers that showed overseas remittance data from as recently as August 2015. One file contained information on what appeared to be 465,437 QNB accounts, although only a fraction of these accounts had anything resembling full account details.

There is no way to verify the authenticity of the vast trove of information. However, several known Qatari figures in the government and media whose names appeared on the list confirmed that their account details were accurate. "I've been thinking about moving my deposits out of Qatar for a while and will definitely advance this more quickly now," said an expatriate banking official. "If others get the same idea, then this could be painful for the bank".

The alleged leak had little impact on QNB's share prices which dipped initially on Tuesday by about 1 percent but remained flat on Wednesday. QNB is one of the largest banks in the Middle East. Earlier this month, it reported a seven per cent first quarter increase in profits to almost USD 800 million, despite the impact of low global oil prices.

Middle Eastern banks are attractive targets for cyber criminals because of the high levels of wealth in a region that has flourished in recent years due to buoyant hydrocarbon prices. Qatar is the richest country in the world on a per-capita basis, according to the World Bank.

The last major reported cyber attacks in the Gulf region was in 2013, when Oman's Bank Muscat and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates had $45 million stolen by hackers who targeted details of pre-paid debit cards held by a third-party services company.

In other high-profile bank record thefts, cyber criminals typically attempt to cash in quickly by re-selling the data through secretive online criminal marketplaces, the biggest of which are said to operate out of Eastern Europe. In these marketplaces, anonymous sellers can auction off bundles of personal financial information such as credit cards, bank accounts or home addresses to the highest bidder.

Tags:
information leaks
Source:
Reuters
676
Other NEWS
19 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Critical unpatched RCE flaw disclosed in LG network storage devices
18 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Apple is planning to launch a news subscription service
18 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage A big Spanish bank’s customers can now use it to transfer money
17 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage How Android phones hide missed security updates from you
16 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Google is testing self-destructing emails in new Gmail
16 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage In a leaked memo, Apple warns employees to stop leaking information
13 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage WannaCry ransomware sinkhole data now available to organizations
13 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Apple must pay $502.6 million to VirnetX, federal jury rules
12 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Vevo’s YouTube account hack hits popular music videos, causes biggest video ever to disappear
11 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Homeland security to compile database of journalists, bloggers
10 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage US may tie social media to visa applications
6 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Mark Zuckerberg on Tim Cook’s criticism of Facebook: It’s “extremely glib and not aligned with the truth”
5 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage A robot’s ransom
4 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Why it’s too late to #DeleteFacebook
3 Apr 2018 safeum news imgage Saks, Lord & Taylor hit by payment card data breach
All news
SafeUM
Confidential Our technologies Company
Follow us
Download
SafeUM © Safe Universal Messenger

Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015