Cybersecurity experts say lessons must be learnt from an incident in which digital banking platform Revolut was deceived into turning over private customer data to hackers. The UK-based financial technology firm, with more than 80 million customers, confirmed someone posing as an Italian government regulator by email succeeded in procuring identification card information, photos, account statements, transaction histories and other items of data from the company. Some reports suggest the hackers are already leaking that information and demanding Revolut pay a ransom to prevent more of the data being revealed. Revolut has not yet responded to The National's requests for comment.Technology experts and cybersecurity analysts say the type of attack could become more popular among criminal groups. “Nobody broke into Revolut's systems, the attackers asked for the data and the bank sent it,” said Ivan Milenkovic, vice president for cyber risk technology at IT security firm Qualys. Though the criminals hacked an Italian government's email system to pose as law enforcement, they also took advantage of human nature, Mr Milenkovic said.“The weak point was the [Revolut] desk that answers police requests and how much it trusts a government domain,” he said. The list of information stolen, which reportedly includes passports, driving licences and verification selfies, was particularly worriso...
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