[Source – bleepingcomputer.com]
MoneyGram, a prominent financial services company, has confirmed that a recent cybersecurity breach was responsible for its services being offline for several days. The disruption, which began on September 20, has affected customers worldwide. Although the company is working diligently to restore its systems, the full recovery timeline remains unclear. The issue highlights the growing threat of cyberattacks on major financial institutions.
MoneyGram Acknowledges Cybersecurity Breach
On September 23, MoneyGram publicly acknowledged that its service outage was caused by a cybersecurity issue. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the company stated, “MoneyGram admits cybersecurity issues impacting some of its systems, following customer reports of service disruptions starting on September 20.” Since then, the outage has been widely reported by users, with hundreds of complaints collected by DownDetector, a service status aggregator.
According to MoneyGram, the company immediately took action upon identifying the issue. It launched an investigation and implemented protective measures, including taking certain systems offline to mitigate the breach. These steps affected network connectivity and disrupted services globally. To address the breach, the Dallas-based firm is collaborating with law enforcement and external cybersecurity experts.
Ongoing Recovery Efforts
In an update on September 24, MoneyGram announced that it was making progress in restoring key transactional systems. “We continue to make progress in successfully restoring some of our key transactional systems,” the company said in its X post, adding that it was working “around the clock” to bring services back online. While some systems are now functional, MoneyGram has yet to specify which systems were impacted or provide details on whether any sensitive data was compromised.
MoneyGram Cyberattack Confirmed
The company reassured customers that pending transactions would be available once the systems were fully restored. However, it has not provided a timeline for when all services will be back to normal. MoneyGram did not respond to immediate requests for further comment, leaving many users in the dark about the full extent of the breach.
Cybersecurity Concerns on the Rise
MoneyGram admits cybersecurity issues as its outage coincides with a rise in cyberattacks, particularly those involving cryptocurrency. Blockchain security firm Chainalysis reported that 2024 has seen a 96% year-on-year increase in crypto-related ransomware attacks compared to 2023. The surge has been partly driven by a record-breaking $75 million ransom payment to the Dark Angels ransomware group. This figure far exceeds the $37.8 million in total ransom payments made throughout 2023.
As one of the world’s largest money transfer companies, MoneyGram plays a critical role in global remittances, processing over $200 billion annually for 50 million customers. The company’s services are especially important for immigrants in the United States, who rely on MoneyGram to send funds back to their families abroad. Earlier this year, MoneyGram ventured into the cryptocurrency space, offering fiat-to-crypto exchange services. Just two days before the outage, the company announced a partnership with CEX.io to offer stablecoin services at MoneyGram kiosks.
MoneyGram admits cybersecurity challenges as its services remain partially offline, facing increased pressure to resolve the issue and safeguard its systems amidst escalating cyberattacks on financial institutions.
