Development Bank of Seychelles Hit by Ransomware

The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) on Friday announced that the network of the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS) was recently targeted in a ransomware attack.

Established in 1977, DBS is majority owned by the government of Seychelles, but it is non-budgetary dependent and operates on a commercial basis.

The newly disclosed security incident, CBS reveals, was communicated by DBS on September 9, and an investigation was launched into the matter.

“Since then, CBS has been engaging with DBS to establish the exact nature and circumstances of the incident and closely monitor the developments, including the possible impact on DBS’ operations,” the bank said in a Friday announcement.

CBS did not provide additional information on the attack, but revealed that it has encouraged DBS to keep customers and stakeholders informed on the investigation, and that more will be shared publicly once the details surrounding the incident are uncovered.

“The CBS has stressed on the need for DBS to maintain communication with its clients and other stakeholders, particularly within the banking sector, throughout this process. […]The CBS will be providing further details to the general public once the full extent of this reality has been clearly understood,” the bank announced.

Furthermore, CBS says that the incident is also expected to help identify “areas of vulnerability that could have led to the ransomware attack.”

The bank has yet to reveal whether customer data was compromised in the incident. Many of the ransomware attacks over the past couple of years, however, did result in sensitive data being stolen, to entice victim companies into paying the ransom.

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