A hacker going by name 'Hacker Buba' dumps customer details of Invest Bank in the United Arab Emirates after failing to get a ransom amounting to $3 million. After breaking into the Invest Bank of UAE and stealing the customer details from the bank's website, Hacker Buba made contact with the bank and demanded a ransom in bitcoins.
When the bank refused to cooperate and follow his demand, he immediately dumped tens of thousands of customer's files online through Twitter. The hacker's account that contains confidential files of bank's customers was deleted.
Hacker Buba told the editor of the Dubai-based Xpress newspapers, Mazhar Farooqui that he will leak the information if the bank refuses to pay the ransom money that he was asking. Invest Bank executive confirmed the hack to the editor saying that it's a form of blackmail.
The hacker's account got suspended following the release of the documents. However, the reprieve was short-lived because the following day, Buba created another account publishing all the account statement of almost 500 bank customers.
Before the release of the documents, Buba has contacted the bank customers through a text message informing them that their accounts were under his control. He asked them to pay him directly or else their accounts will be revealed online.
The customers eventually panicked upon receiving the message. The bank also admitted the cyber-attack.
"Yes, there was a data breach and we have been contacted by Hacker Buba. He is asking for money, but I cannot reveal how much. This is blackmail. We have reported the matter to the UAE Central Bank. The Telecom Regulatory Authority's (TRA) Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT) is investigating," bank's chief financial and operating officer said in the interview with XPRESS.
According to the reports from the Daily Dot, the stolen data contains sensitive information of 40,000 customers which includes their full names, credit card numbers, and birthdays. Other account holders did not know that their accounts were released online and were only informed when the Xpress contacted them.