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* Travelex confirms Sodinokibi ransomware attack
* Finablr says does not see material financial hit
* Travelex clients include Virgin Money, Tesco, Sainsbury
* Shares fall to record low
(Adds comment from authorities, FCA, NCA, police, National
Cyber Security Centre)
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Kirstin Ridley
LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Staff at foreign exchange firm
Travelex are using pen and paper to serve thousands of customers
after the company said cyber hackers were holding its systems to
ransom, leading to a global blackout on its online currency
exchange services.
The currency trader, which also provides forex services for
customers of HSBC, Barclays, Virgin Money
and the banking arms of British retailers Tesco
and Sainsbury, said on Tuesday a software
virus identified on Jan. 2 was a ransomware attack.
The spread of the ransomware, which Travelex said it had
successfully contained, forced the company to take all its
systems offline, causing chaos for New Year holidaymakers and
business travellers seeking online currency services.
The company, which has a presence in more than 70 countries,
is currently only able to serve customers face-to-face at its
1,200 on-airport and off-airport locations worldwide.
A criminal investigation led by London's Metropolitan Police
is now also underway.
The Financial Conduct Authority, Britain's markets
regulator, said it was also in contact with the firm to ensure
affected customers were being treated fairly. The National Cyber
Security Centre said it was providing technical support.
Scores of people turned to Twitter to vent their frustration
at being left without cash they had ordered for their travels.
Travelex's parent company Finablr Plc said the
hackers used a type of ransomware called Sodinokibi -- also
commonly referred to as REvil -- in an attempt to encrypt
customer data.
Travelex said there was no evidence yet that any data had
been stolen. .
Finablr processes more than 150 million transactions per
year -- all of which rely on the efficient and uninterrupted
operation of computer and communication systems. According to
its listing prospectus, published last year, the company has
computer-crime insurance to cover cyber risks.
But the incident sent the company's shares slumping almost
20% to a record low on Wednesday, a drop exacerbated by two
major investors selling shares worth about $72 million in the
payments firm.
A Virgin Money spokesman said customers were unable to place
orders via the Virgin Money Travel Money website or any Travelex
website or the contact centre but that customers could process
orders at a Travelex Bureau directly.
Sainsbury's Chief Executive Mike Coupe described the
incident as "disruptive" but said customers could still buy
currency over-the-counter, while a spokesman for Tesco said its
360 in-store Travel Money outlets were operating as normal.
A spokeswoman for HSBC said its UK bank branches held some
euro and dollar stock for immediate purchase but it was unable
to take travel money orders. Barclays apologised to its affected
customers and said it would restore service "as soon as it was
able to do so".
Travelex, which had computer specialists and external
cybersecurity experts work on isolating the virus, is gradually
restoring a number of internal systems and is working to resume
normal operations as quickly as possible.
Global companies are increasingly facing ransom-demanding
hackers who cripple businesses' technology systems and only stop
after receiving substantial payments.
These hackers use malicious programmes such as ransomware to
take down systems controlling everything from supply chains to
payments to manufacturing.
Neither Finablr nor Travelex provided any detail on the
costs of handling the incident so far but Finablr said it did
not currently expect to suffer any material financial impact
from the incident.
Another European company aluminium maker Norsk Hydro
faced costs of between 300 million and 350 million
Norwegian crowns ($39.52 million) in its first quarter last year
following a similar cyber attack in March.
"The ongoing attack against Travelex is arguably the worst
case scenario for how crippling ransomware can be," Stuart Reed,
vice president for cybersecurity at British web services firm
Nominet said.
"If there was ever any doubt that a cyber attack could have
a significant effect on financial markets, this proves
otherwise."
Hackers have grown more sophisticated during the past year,
cybersecurity experts say, shifting from individuals to larger
companies that can afford bigger ransoms.
In August, hundreds of dental offices around the United
States found they could no longer access their patient records
because of a Sodinokibi attack, according to Malwarebytes, which
sells cybersecurity software.
Finablr's other six brands - UAE Exchange, Xpress Money,
Unimoni, Remit2India, Ditto and Swych -- are not affected and
are operating normally, it said.
($1 = 8.8580 Norwegian crowns)
($1 = 8.8562 Norwegian crowns)
(Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Lawrence White;
writing by Sinead Cruise, Editing by Shailesh Kuber/Louise
Heavens/Jane Merriman)
