French bank Credit Mutuel Arkea hit by cyberattack

PARIS, Nov 4 : French cooperative bank Credit Mutuel Arkea said on Wednesday it had been hit by a cyberattack which "enabled fraudulent transactions to be carried out" but that clients' money was not affected.

The bank said in a statement that the amount of money affected by the attack is still being assessed but is "not of a nature to undermine the Group’s financial strength and soundness." It did not give further details about the fraudulent transactions.

The incident has been contained, operations are resuming, and client assets are not affected, Credit Mutuel Arkea said. The group told the relevant authorities as soon as the attack was detected, it added.

Credit Mutuel Arkea is made up of Credit Mutuel's federations in Brittany and the southwest of France, as well as affiliated local banks and about 40 subsidiaries. The bank has 5.8 million clients and €211.5 billion ($237.51 billion) in assets, making it a major French financial firm, although significantly smaller than the likes of BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

Regulators have long warned about the risk of cyberattacks, particularly with the growth of artificial intelligence, with financial institutions increasingly targeted by hackers.

Last week's theft of $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from the exchange Binance was thought to be the world's largest-ever financial heist.

Beyond finance, businesses across Europe have been grappling with a fresh wave of cyberattacks targeting internet-connected fridges.