Metro Bank has reportedly been hit by a cyberattack which targets codes sent by text to customers in order to verify transactions.
These attackers were allegedly able to intercept verification texts which are sent to a customer’s mobile phone to confirm transfers or payments, a number of reports in the media state. A number of other banks are believed to have also fallen victim to this crime.
The breech was initially identified by Motherboard, whom claims that hackers exploited a fault in SS7. This is a communication signalling protocol used by telecoms organisations to route calls and text messages to global phones.
In a statement from the bank it outlined that only a small number of its customers were impacted but gave no indication of how many this actually is. Customers of its bank are advised to be vigilant of any suspicious or unsolicited activity with their accounts.
Last week, the UK government revealed its plans to boost cybersecurity in the country through a new £70m investment commitment.
Its aim is to boost the security and protections of devices and online services for both businesses and consumers.
Through this funding, it will support the research for the design and development of hardware so they can become more secure from the outset. The goal is to ‘design out’ various forms of cyber threats by integrating security and protection technology into the hardware and chip designs.
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