TORONTO–Two Canadian banks said the personal data of at least 90,000 customers may have been breached. The Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce both reported that cyber attackers had contacted each of the banks, respectively, claiming to have penetrated their systems.
Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-biggest lender, said it was contacted by fraudsters who claimed they were in possession of the personal and financial information of a limited number of the bank’s customers, according to Reuters. A spokesperson for the bank said it’s believed that less than 50,000 of its eight-million customers across Canada were hacked. The bank declined to say if any customers had lost money.
According to Bank of Montreal, the fraudsters had threatened to make the data public, Reuters reported.
Bank of Montreal told Reuters it believes the attack originated from outside the country and was confident the exposures that led to the theft of customer data had been closed off.
Meanwhile, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada’s fifth-biggest lender, said it was also contacted by fraudsters claiming they had electronically stolen personal and account information of 40,000 customers of its Simplii direct banking brand, Reuters said.
CIBC told Reuters it has not yet confirmed the cyber breach but is taking the claim seriously. CIBC said customers at its main banking division were not affected.