Inside Wall Street’s scramble after ICBC hack

Ransomware attack: A branch office of ICBC in Hong Kong. ICBC is working with cybersecurity firm MoxFive to set up secure systems that will allow it to resume normal business on Wall Street. — AP

NEW YORK: The cyber hack of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s (ICBC) US broker-dealer was so extensive last Wednesday, even the corporate email stopped working and forced employees to switch to Google mail, according to two people familiar with the situation.

The blackout left the brokerage temporarily owing BNY Mellon US$9bil, an amount many times larger than its net capital, a measure of resources at hand to promptly satisfy claims.