Travelex, a foreign exchange firm was attacked by a group of cyber hackers who demanded ransom worth $6 million. The firm is the newest casualty in an ongoing explosion of ransomware attacks where hackers are looking for cryptocurrency payouts.

The UK-based foreign exchange website, Travelex was forced to go dark after a ransomware attack that resulted due to a breach in its network. According to a BBC report, the attackers initiated the breach on New Year’s Eve and forced the company to power down its websites and systems.

It’s an attack whose timing was well coordinated as it occurred during a period when the majority of the company’s personnel were at home for the holidays. The firm currently operates in more than thirty countries. Its branches are 1,200 in total.

After the attack, many branches were forced to go old school and begin operating manually. Travelex posted a note on its official Twitter handle stating,

Statement on IT issues affecting Travelex Services pic.twitter.com/rpKagJLykn

— Travelex UK (@TravelexUK) January 2, 2020

In its report to users, the foreign exchange firm noted that a ransomware gang going by the name Sodinokibi had taken responsibility for this attack. Additional reports noted that the gang had asked for a ransom amounting to $6 million that was to be paid in form of crypto.

The payment was to be made via a website that had a top-level domain, with its details indicating that it was registered in March 2019 in China.

The gang stated that it would provide the company with decryption tools that would make it possible for its IT personnel to disable the virus and regain access to all its files as soon as it had made payments.

Some studies have established that the frequency at which ransomware attacks are occurring may have had an effect on Bitcoin prices for the better part of 2019.

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