Brazilian Financial Services Under Attack

Uploaded on 2025-07-11 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-Financial

Brazil’s central bank has disclosed that the technology services firm C&M Software, a key infrastructure provider for financial institutions, was hit by a recent cyber attack. While this exploit prompted immediate regulatory intervention, it has raised concerns across the country’s digital banking sector.

In response to the incident, the central bank instructed C&M Software to suspend access for financial institutions to the infrastructure it manages.

While the bank did not detail the nature or scale of the breach, it confirmed that it is closely monitoring the situation.
Kamal Zogheib, a senior commercial director of C&M Software, said the company was directly targeted in the attack, and that hackers used fraudulent client credentials in an attempt to get inside its systems and services. He emphasised that the company’s critical infrastructure remained unaffected and fully operational. Zogheib also said that C&M had enacted all required security protocols and is collaborating with both the central bank and São Paulo state police in the ongoing investigation.

One of the affected institutions, Banco Modal Partners (BMP), confirmed to Reuters that it, along with five other financial entities, experienced unauthorized access to their reserve accounts maintained at the central bank.

These accounts are used exclusively for interbank settlements, and BMP assured that client accounts and internal balances were not compromised. The bank added that it has undertaken all necessary legal and operational steps to address the situation and holds sufficient collateral to cover the impacted funds without disrupting its business operations.

A government official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said C&M Software provides services to approximately two dozen smaller financial institutions. The official noted that the financial impact of the breach is not expected to be major. Another source added that no client losses have been reported.

The affected financial institutions are part of a growing segment of Brazil’s banking ecosystem, digital payment institutions that operate without their own direct connectivity to central banking systems.

These entities have expanded rapidly in recent years, fueled by the success of the central bank’s Pix system, an instant payment platform launched in 2020 that has quickly become the most widely used payment method in the country.

Image: Ideogram

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