Credit Mutuel Arkea hunts stolen funds after cyberattack, disputes $133m loss figure
Credit Mutuel Arkea is chasing money stolen in "fraudulent transactions" after a cyberattack, the French cooperative bank said, while pushing back on a reported $133 million loss figure and insisting customer assets were untouched.
The bank said the sums affected were "not of a nature to undermine the Group's financial strength and soundness", and that the losses were lower than the $133 million reported by crypto news outlet CoinDesk. A spokesperson said teams were still working to assess the financial consequences precisely and that "it is still too early to give a final figure".
On its website the bank said the incident had "no impact on (customer) assets and has only caused a delay in the execution of certain transfers". It said the attack had been contained and that authorities were told as soon as it was detected. Credit Mutuel Arkea declined to comment on whether the funds were held as cryptocurrency, as CoinDesk reported, and did not answer questions on how or when the attack unfolded or whether any data was stolen.
The Brittany-based firm, part of the larger Credit Mutuel group, has 5.8 million clients and €211.5 billion ($238 billion) in assets, making it a major French financial institution, though far smaller than BNP Paribas or Societe Generale. Successful hacks of large financial institutions are rare, but regulators have stepped up warnings about cyber risk, particularly as AI spreads.
The incident lands in a crowded week for cyber security: it follows the theft of $6.3 billion of cryptocurrency from the Binance exchange and a wave of attacks on internet-connected fridges in Europe, while three regional blood banks in France were hit overnight between Sunday and Monday, with refrigerators holding blood products targeted.
What it means for Pakistan: For Pakistani readers the case is a reminder that the cyber risk regulators here have flagged runs through banking as well as crypto. The State Bank of Pakistan has repeatedly warned banks and payment providers about cyber security and fraud, and the same pattern - attackers moving money through fraudulent transactions, with the institution disputing the size of the loss - is one Pakistani account holders and exchange users should expect to see reported. It also underlines why the State Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan treat custody and customer-fund protection as central to any virtual asset framework.
