Websites of foreign exchange provider Travelex remain unavailable a week after the company was struck by a malware attack on New Year’s Eve. On a tweet posted on Jan 2, the firm confirmed they were forced to pull their system down to protect data and prevent a “software virus” from spreading.
“As a precautionary measure in order to protect data and prevent the spread of the virus, we immediately took all our systems offline. Our investigation to date shows no indication that any personal or customer data has been compromised,” the tweet explained.
“We have deployed teams of IT specialists and external cybersecurity experts who have been working continuously since New Year’s Eve to isolate the virus and restore affected systems,” it added.
The tweet presents a different story from the statement posted on Travelex’s site, which states that the firm’s online service is temporarily down “due to planned maintenance.” The note was written in English, French, Japanese, German, Dutch, Italian, and Czech, and promises that the system will be back shortly.
According to a report from The Sun, cybersecurity experts are now working on isolating the virus and getting the company’s system back online. The foreign exchange currency company was also quick to clarify that their investigation to date shows that no personal or customer data has been compromised due to the attack.
"We regret having to suspend some of our services in order to contain the virus and protect data," Tony D'Souza, CEO of Travelex, said in a statement.
"We apologise to all our customers for any inconvenience caused as a result. We are doing all we can to restore our full services as soon as possible,” he added.
Founded in 1976, Travelex works as a foreign exchange company with over 80 currencies available for home delivery or store pickup. To date, the firm operates in over 70 countries and has over 1,200 branches and 1,000 ATMs worldwide. The latest cybersecurity issue follows nearly 2 years after Travelex leaked the details of nearly 17,000 Tesco Bank customers due to “human error.”
To date, while the firm’s sites remain offline, customers will not be able to carry out transactions via the firm’s website or through the app.
No news on what type of virus was used or who orchestrated the attack was also available at the moment.
“We are doing all we can to restore our full services as soon as possible. Please DM any queries so that we can try to help resolve any issues as quickly as possible,” Travelex concluded in the post.
