ICBC Photo: VCG

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services (ICBCFS) experienced a ransomware attack on Wednesday local time which resulted in disruption to certain FS systems. A thorough investigation is already underway, the institution said in a note on its website on Friday.

ICBCFS immediately disconnected and isolated impacted systems to contain the incident upon discovering. It has reported the incident to law enforcement, and successfully cleared US Treasury trades executed on Wednesday and Repo financing trades on Thursday. 

A spokesperson from the US Treasury Department said on Thursday that it is aware of a cybersecurity issue at ICBC that has affected the Treasury market, and is in regular contact with key financial sector participants and regulators, Reuters reported. 

The US Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told members on Thursday local time that ICBC had been hit by ransomware which disrupted the US Treasury market by preventing it from settling trades on behalf of other market players, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The ICBCFS said that the systems used by ICBC Head Office and other domestic and overseas affiliated institutions were not affected by this incident, nor was the ICBC New York Branch.

The ICBCFS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the ICBC, which provides global clearing, execution and financing services in all major markets, according to the website. 

Global Times