Staff at foreign exchange firm Travelex are using pen and paper to serve thousands of customers after the compan
y 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, s
aid on Tuesday a software virus identified on Jan. 2 was a ransomware attack.
The spread of the ransomware, which Travelex said it had succes
sfully contained, forced the company to take all its systems offline, causing chaos for New Year holidaymakers and business travelers seeking online currency services.
The company, which has a presence in more than 70 countries, is cu
rrently 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 wa
s 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.
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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 typ
e 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 uninterr
upted operation of computer and communication systems. According to its listing prospectus, published last yea
r, 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 sh
ares 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 center 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 apologized 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 cyber-secu
rity 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.