On Day 4 of Ransomware Attack, Service Still Down at Patelco

A ransomware attack forced Patelco Credit Union to shutter critical banking operations for more than four days, leaving nearly 500,000 customers unable to make card payments or conduct electronic transactions.

The financial services firm, which has $9 billion in assets, said it shut down some of its day-to-day banking systems – including its online banking, mobile app and call center services – to “contain and remediate” the attack.

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Electronic transactions such as transfers, balance inquiries and payments are unavailable, and debit and credit card transactions are operational in a limited capacity. Cash withdrawals are not affected.

The U.S.-headquartered credit union with nearly 40 branches in Northern California upgraded the “serious security incident” status from Sunday to a ransomware attack on Tuesday.

Patelco said it anticipates a delay in customer service, but it did not offer a timeline for when operations would resume. A customer on Reddit said they received an email from the organization informing them that the “next few days – and coming weeks – may present challenges.”

It is unclear who was behind the attack or what information or funds were compromised. Patelco said it is working with third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident.

The attack comes at the beginning of the month when monthly payments such as rent are due -and right before a national holiday. Patelco’s customers work at mainly entry-level or blue-collar jobs and in small businesses or local communities.

Patelco said it would reimburse late fees caused due to the outage, write letters if customer credit scores are affected due to late payments, and waive overdraft, late payment and ATM fees.