French bank says cyberattack stole around $100m

French regional bank Credit Mutuel Arkea fell victim to a cyberattack that resulted in fraudulent transactions totaling around 100 million euros ($112 million), the bank announced on Wednesday. The attack, which has now been contained, saw hackers gain unauthorized access to Arkea's accounts and make transfers to other banks, not affecting the clients' accounts.

The stolen funds were subsequently converted into cryptocurrencies on specialized platforms, with a portion having been blocked and further efforts underway to recover the funds.

Credit Mutuel Arkea's spokesperson emphasized that the transfers were not the result of human errors but rather a sophisticated, external attack. The bank refrained from disclosing the specifics of the attack or the identity of the perpetrators. While the newspaper Le Telegramme reported losses of $133 million, Credit Mutuel Arkea confirmed the significant scale of the losses but assured that it would not jeopardize the financial stability of the group. The exact amount of funds affected by the attack was still under evaluation.

ZachXBT, an independent investigator specializing in tracking funds on the blockchain, disclosed the fraud on his social media accounts earlier in the week. The anonymous online sleuth reported that the stolen funds had been redirected through multiple accounts created on crypto exchange platforms.