Hackers target China's ICBC, US Treasury trades disrupted

The news: A ransomware attack on the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China disrupted transactions on the US Treasuries market overnight, raising questions over market participants' cyber security, the Financial Times reports.

The context: Worldwide, organisations reported 493.33 million ransomware attack attempts in 2023, according to Statista. Ransomware locks up computer systems until a demanded payment is made. Today's event had a limited impact on the market, according to Reuters.

What they said: "We are aware of the cybersecurity issue and are in regular contact with key financial sector participants, in addition to federal regulators," a Treasuries spokesman said in response to the FT report.

"We continue to monitor the situation."