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Hackers attack US forex broker

October 1, 2015

An online foreign exchange broker has revealed it was subject to a cyber attack, compromising a "small number" of customers' accounts. The broker said it was launching an investigation.

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Symbolbild Internet Spionage
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gabbert

FXCM - an online foreign exchange market broker - said on Thursday that a "small number of unauthorized wire transfers from customer accounts," after announcing it had been hacked.

In a statement, FXCM said that funds were returned to the compromised accounts and that the customers were notified.

The hacker reportedly sent an email to the foreign exchange broker claiming it had access to customer information.

FXCM added that it notified the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the cyber attack, and that it launched its own "full investigation…with a leading cybersecurity firm."

Reuters news agency reported that a spokeswoman for the FBI said the bureau was "aware of the incident and is investigating."

Cyber attacks on companies are on the rise. In August, a cyber attack on Canada-based extramarital affair-arranging website Ashley Madison compromised the data of 32 million users, which was later published online after the company failed to meet the hackers' demands to shut down.

Meanwhile, China - often accused of industrial espionage through cyber attacks - and the US agreed they would not "knowingly support" cybertheft, signing a pact between the two countries to combat cyber warfare.

ls/kms (AFP, Reuters)