A hacker stole £700,000 from a UK energy company by redirecting payments

British oil and gas company Zephyr Energy says someone stole £700,000 (about $1 million) from one of its US subsidiaries by redirecting payments made to a contractor into an account controlled by hackers.

In to keep the rules and the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, the company said it was “working with similar banks and advisers to try to recover the lost funds.”

Although the company did not say how this was done, hackers are known to break into mailboxes or accounting systems and use this opportunity to change bank accounts and control numbers during the process of paying someone or withdrawing an invoice. Known as business email compromise attack, the FBI said recently annual report published on cybercrime earlier in April that violence remains one of the world’s leading causes of financial loss, with more than $3 billion in losses for victims by 2025.

Zephyr says the event is live and that its operations are progressing.

Regarding the attack itself, the company said it used “industry best practices” on its technology and payment platforms, but said it had implemented “additional security measures” following the incident.

A spokesperson for Zephyr did not return an email seeking comment on the incident.

(via The Register)