Categories: CyberCrimeSecurity

Hackers Plunder £3.3m From Ryanair Accounts

Budget airline Ryanair has revealed it has been hit by a cyber-attack which saw $5 million (£3.3m) stolen from the company’s corporate account.

The funds were removed from a Ryanair account last week by electronic transfer via a Chinese bank, according to The Irish Times.

However, the company is none the wiser as to how the hacking scam was operated or who was behind it.

Tricked

“Ryanair confirms that it has investigated a fraudulent electronic transfer via a Chinese bank last week,” the airline said in a statement on Tuesday night.

“The airline has been working with its banks and the relevant authorities and understands that the funds – less than $5 million – have now been frozen.

“The airline expects these funds to be repaid shortly, and has taken steps to ensure that this type of transfer cannot recur.”

The company uses dollars to pay for airline fuel for its 400-plus Boeing 737-800 aircraft, rather than Ireland’s currency, the Euro.

The scam seems to use a similar tactic to the ‘Dyre Wolf’ scheme uncovered by IBM researchers earlier this month, which has apparently netted the criminals more than $1 billion (£674m) from American companies.

The scheme sees criminals sending out spam emails with unsafe attachments containing the Dyre malware, which seeks to get access to as many corporate computers as possible.

“Once the infected victim tries to log in to one of the hundreds of bank websites for which Dyre is programmed to monitor, a new screen will appear instead of the corporate banking site,” said IBM. “The page will explain the site is experiencing issues and that the victim should call the number provided to get help logging in.”

The trick makes use of “advanced social engineering techniques”, with a live telephone operator then speaking to the victim when they call the number, pretending to be from a real bank, who then try and obtain the corporate banking details. Once they gain that vital information, they begin making wire transfers out of the victim’s bank account.

Are you a security pro? Try our quiz!

Mike Moore

Michael Moore joined TechWeek Europe in January 2014 as a trainee before graduating to Reporter later that year. He covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to mobile devices, wearable tech, the Internet of Things, and financial technology.

Recent Posts

Apple Sales Rise 6 Percent After Early iPhone 16 Demand

Fourth quarter results beat Wall Street expectations, as overall sales rise 6 percent, but EU…

24 hours ago

X’s Community Notes Fails To Stem US Election Misinformation – Report

Hate speech non-profit that defeated Elon Musk's lawsuit, warns X's Community Notes is failing to…

1 day ago

Google Fined More Than World’s GDP By Russia

Good luck. Russia demands Google pay a fine worth more than the world's total GDP,…

1 day ago

Spotify, Paramount Sign Up To Use Google Cloud ARM Chips

Google Cloud signs up Spotify, Paramount Global as early customers of its first ARM-based cloud…

2 days ago

Meta Warns Of Accelerating AI Infrastructure Costs

Facebook parent Meta warns of 'significant acceleration' in expenditures on AI infrastructure as revenue, profits…

2 days ago

AI Helps Boost Microsoft Cloud Revenues By 33 Percent

Microsoft says Azure cloud revenues up 33 percent for September quarter as capital expenditures surge…

2 days ago