Employee data from banking giant UBS has been leaked on the dark web following a breach at Chain IQ, one of the bank’s third-party suppliers. UBS isn’t the only Chain IQ partner to be affected, as reportedly, 18 other companies were targeted in the attack.
Swiss outlet Le Temps reports that the information of nearly 130,000 UBS employees has been published on the dark web by a ransomware group called World Leaks. This information includes contact details, job roles, and location details. The phone number of UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti is also reportedly included in the published data.
A UBS spokesperson told Infosecurity Magazine that the breach hasn’t affected customer data or operations. However, the leaked employee data can help facilitate follow-up ransomware attacks where cybercriminals impersonate bank employees with the help of generative AI tools. Additionally, leaking customer data can also be a ploy to publicly shame Chain IQ, increasing pressure on the business to pay a ransom.
In a statement describing the incident, Chain IQ claimed that the attack was carried out using “tools and techniques that had never before been seen on a global scale.” The attack resulted in data theft, and data from some Chain IQ customers was published on the dark web on June 12. Affected customers were informed shortly after the data was published.
Swiss private bank Pictet also suffered a data breach, as per a statement published by Reuters. Pictet was also a Chain IQ client and hence was affected by the larger ramifications of the initial breach. Similar to the UBS breach, the stolen information did not include client data, but invoice information with some of the bank’s suppliers, including technology partners and external consultants, was leaked.
At the time of writing, UBS and Pictet remain the only two publicly known Chain IQ customers affected by the breach, with their data leaked on the dark web. However, with 17 other clients affected, hackers could slowly start releasing more information to pressure Chain IQ into paying a ransom, or start selling client data off for profits.
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