Hacker attack diverted R$710 million in Pix transactions, says company that operates the system

Sinqia, a company that operates a system that connects banks to Pix, stated that the hacker attack that occurred last week resulted in the diversion of at least R$710 million in unauthorized transactions. HSBC bank and fintech Artta were also affected by the attack.

"The company believes the incident is limited to Sinqia's Pix environment and has not identified any unauthorized activity in any other Sinqia system outside of PIX in Brazil. The company also has no evidence that any personal data was compromised," the company said.

According to the company, the primary suspicion is that unauthorized transactions were introduced into the Pix environment by exploiting legitimate credentials from Sinqia's IT suppliers. The attack involved business-to-business (B2B) financial transactions.

In a statement, fintech Artta stated that it remains in direct contact with Sinqia and the Central Bank to ensure the full resumption of services as soon as possible.

HSBC stated that it took measures to block transactions within the provider's environment. "HSBC reaffirms its commitment to data security and is available to assist authorities with their investigations," it said.