China’s biggest lender, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, paid a ransom after it was hacked last week, a Lockbit ransomware gang representative said on Monday in a statement which Reuters was unable to independently verify.
ICBC, whose U.S. arm was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted trades in the U.S. Treasury market on Nov. 9, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“They paid a ransom, deal closed,” the Lockbit representative told Reuters via Tox, an online messaging app.
The blackout at ICBC’s U.S. broker-dealer left it temporarily owing BNY Mellon BK.N $9 billion, an amount many times larger than its net capital.
The hack was so extensive that even corporate email at the firm ceased to function, forcing employees to switch to Google mail, Reuters reported.
