Cyberattack hits French Basque local currency operator Euskal Moneta

Euskal Moneta, the French association that manages the local Eusko currency, has been targeted by a cyberattack that may have exposed personal information belonging to thousands of users, the organisation said, as reported by Sud Ouest, major regional daily newspaper for southwest France.

The intrusion was detected on Aug. 17 after some members reported being unable to access their online account. Euskal Moneta said attackers gained sufficiently broad access to its computer infrastructure that it could not rule out the possibility that data stored on its servers had been viewed or copied.

About 4,600 individuals and businesses were alerted about the incident. The organisation said there is currently no evidence confirming that personal information or banking details were actually extracted or misused.

“We have no evidence of any data breach at this stage,” the organisation said, according to the reports. Euskal Moneta also rebuilt its computer infrastructure after the attack and reported the incident to France’s data protection authority, National Commission on Informatics and Liberty.

The attackers appear to have sought access to Euskal Moneta’s infrastructure for purposes linked to an online gambling site, rather than specifically targeting users’ financial accounts.

The Eusko, launched in 2013, is a local currency used in France’s Basque Country. Euskal Moneta currently has about 4,600 individual users and 1,400 professional members.