Crédit Mutuel Arkéa resumes operations after attack, assesses losses

French banking group Crédit Mutuel Arkéa said nearly all operations resumed Wednesday after a cyberattack linked to a suspected theft from the bank’s own account.

The bank said operations resumed following security checks and additional safeguards. It said customer funds were unaffected and the disruption only delayed certain transfers. 

The bank also disclosed that attackers gained access through a service provider, not its online banking subsidiary Fortuneo. They transferred the bank’s money to other financial institutions, potentially allowing them to convert it into crypto.

Withdrawals from crypto exchanges first exposed the suspected theft. Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery traced withdrawals from accounts at Kraken, Crypto.com and OKX before the victim was publicly identified.

Onchain sleuth ZachXBT flagged more than $106 million in suspicious withdrawals on Monday and raised his estimate above $133 million on Tuesday after finding another $27 million. His Wednesday report identified Arkéa as the potential victim.

The bank then confirmed the attack and said it was still assessing its financial impact.

“We are not confirming these figures; we can only confirm the approximate scale,” Arkéa said, according to a machine translation.

Arkéa said some funds had been frozen and further recovery efforts were underway. Kraken and Crypto.com previously told Cointelegraph they had restricted accounts or blocked funds linked to the suspected theft. Both exchanges maintained that their platforms remained secure.

Related: Crypto investigators flag suspected $106M theft, $786K Solana bot drain