MoneyGram systems shut down following "cybersecurity issue"

MoneyGram
(Image credit: MoneyGram)

MoneyGram has said it is experiencing a “cybersecurity issue” that has forced it to shut down parts of its IT infrastructure.

The incident seems to have started on Friday, when customers first started complaining about the service not being operational. The company posted its first announcement on X on Sunday, saying it was experiencing a network outage, but in replies to the tweet, the customers slammed the company for “waiting this long to admit there is a problem.”

A day later, MoneyGram gave more details, saying it identified a “cybersecurity issue”, which forced it to take parts of its IT infrastructure offline, launch an investigation, and bring in external cybersecurity experts and law enforcement. The company did not clearly state if this was a ransomware attack, and no ransomware operators have assumed responsibility for the attack yet.

Money stuck in the void

At press time, the company’s website was still offline, holding only a short message saying “We're busy updating the website. Please check back soon.”

MoneyGram also did not say which services it had to bring down, but since customers from all over the world are complaining, it’s safe to assume that online transactions are not working. The Register reports that in-person payments are also not operational.

There is currently no ETA on when the company might bring its services back online. If similar incidents elsewhere are any indication, it could take up to a week to restore at least some systems.

MoneyGram is a hugely popular solution, with more than 150 million customers worldwide. And by being a payments processor, it is a prime target for cybercriminals. If crooks managed to steal sensitive data from the company, it could spell trouble for many people.

Via The Register

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.