According to an announcement by the European Central Bank (ECB), a security breach took place on Thursday as an unknown perpetrator attacked the central bank's public website. The announcement was published on the webpage itself. Our reporters contacted an ECB spokesperson, who explained to Forex Magnates that the operation of the site hasn't been interrupted. However, personal information including emails and other contact details pertaining to people registering for ECB events was stolen during the attack.
No market sensitive data has been compromised as the database which was attacked is physically separate from the internal systems of the central bank.
According to the announcement published on the now securely operating website, the breach was identified after an anonymous email was received, asking for financial compensation in return for the compromised data. The bulk of the data was encrypted with only parts of email and street addresses not being appropriately protected. The main purpose of the database has been to store information by media representatives registering for events organised by the central bank or organisations which have been touring the ECB's building in Frankfurt.
Local German law enforcement authorities have started an investigation on the matter, while ECB's data security team has addressed the systemic vulnerability in the control bank's infrastructure. Staff is contacting people whose email addresses or other personal data might have been compromised and is asking them to change all passwords as a precautionary measure.
