British banks hit by hacking of foreign exchange firm Travelex

Britain’s largest retail banks have been forced to halt processing foreign currency orders after a cyberattack on exchange provider Travelex.

Computer systems at the travel money firm have been down for more than a week since a malware attack on New Year’s Eve, leaving Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others, unable to process transactions.

The hackers have reportedly demanded $6 million in return for encrypted customer data. But in a statement late on Wednesday, Travelex said the system had been taken down as a “precautionary measure” following the discovery of the virus, and that its investigation had shown that customer data had not been compromised.