Watch Rob Shapland on Sky News discussing the Travelex Ransomware attack.
It was reported on Sky News on Tuesday 7th January that Travelex had been hacked and held to ransom by cyber criminals. Rob Shapand, Falanx Cyber’s Head of Professional Services and Ethical Hacker commented:
Ransomware is a type of virus that gets onto a computer system usually by someone opening up an email attachment that’s malicious. In the case of Travelex they can’t get their files back and they’ve been asked for a ransom payment – it’s usually in a crypto-currency like Bitcoin and in this case they asked for three million dollars.
This is really the basics of internet security. Keeping your systems up-to-date and not pointing onto the Internet with really outdated systems is one of the most basic tenets of computer security so yes it is worrying that a company as large as Travelex isn’t doing those basics.
The Met Cyber Crime team is now leading the investigation. And as reported on Sky News, the financial cost of this attack for Travelex could be unprecedented if customers details are leaked by hackers, the company could be faced with a maximum fine of 4% of its global turnover.
Rob also sat down with Mark Austin to discus the impact of the Ransomware attack, how hackers install ransomware and how Travelex are responding to the attack.
About Rob Shapland, Head of Professional Services, Falanx Cyber
Rob Shapland is an ethical hacker with 12 years’ experience attacking the defences of hundreds of organisations, from small businesses to major international organisations. His specialism is ‘red teaming’, or full simulation of criminal attacks, combining his hacking knowledge with his other hobby of dressing up and breaking into buildings. He uses stories of these intrusions to deliver engaging and exciting cyber security training courses to companies all over the world. He is also a regular speaker at events and conferences around Europe, and appears on both BBC and ITV as a cyber security adviser.
