MoneyGram under investigation by ICO following data breach

Incident has affected MoneyGram's operations worldwide

UK data protection regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched an investigation into MoneyGram International, the world's second-largest money transfer provider, following a data breach reported by the company.

The ICO confirmed to TechCrunch that it had received a notification from MoneyGram about the incident that has affected its services globally since 20th September.

"We have received a report from MoneyGram and will be making enquiries," an ICO spokesperson said.

The regulatory body mandates that organisations report data breaches within 72 hours of discovery.

The ICO's investigation will focus on determining the nature of the breach, the extent of the data compromised, and whether MoneyGram has complied with data protection laws. The regulator has the power to impose significant fines on companies that fail to protect customer data.

MoneyGram, which serves more than 50 million people in over 200 countries, handles more than $200 billion in transactions annually. However, since 20th September, the company's services have been significantly disrupted.

The company's first public acknowledgment of the problem came on 21st September, when it disclosed on social media platform X that it was experiencing connectivity issues.

On 23rd September, the company further clarified that it had identified a cybersecurity issue, prompting them to take systems offline to mitigate damage and begin recovery efforts.

The incident has affected MoneyGram's operations worldwide, with local partners, including the Bank of Jamaica and the UK's Post Office, also feeling the impact. Several Caribbean governments issued warnings to their citizens about the limited availability of MoneyGram services, underlining the global scale of the disruption.

MoneyGram said it responded immediately after detecting the issue, launching an investigation and coordinating with law enforcement.

The company has enlisted the help of external cybersecurity experts to mitigate the breach's impact.

"We recognise the importance and urgency of this matter to our customers and partners," it said, assuring that efforts to restore normal operations were progressing.

In an update on 26th September, MoneyGram announced that its website and app were back online, allowing customers to send and receive money.

The company noted, "Customers can send and receive money through both our digital platforms and agent partners. We continue to work diligently to fulfil pending transactions."

However, restoration of full services is ongoing, and customers continue to express frustration over delays and service limitations.

Though MoneyGram has not disclosed the exact nature of the cybersecurity incident, experts speculate it may have involved ransomware.

However, no known hacking group has taken responsibility for the breach.

Earlier this year, global fintech firm Equilend was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted the organisation and shut down part of its operations.

At that time, ransomware group LockBit said it was behind the attack.