By Brazil Stock Guide – Sinqia SA (BVMF: SQIA3) said about 3.5 billion reais ($710 million) in unauthorized transactions were processed through its Pix environment during a cyberattack on Aug. 29, affecting two of its financial institution clients, according to a company statement released Tuesday and reported by Valor Econômico.
The fintech added that it is “working diligently to obtain approval to resume processing transactions in the Brazilian Payment System (SPB) and Pix,” pending authorization from the Banco Central do Brasil.
Sinqia said it was informed that “part of this amount has been recovered and additional recovery efforts are underway.” Early estimates pointed to 670 million reais in losses, mainly involving HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HSBC) and Artta, a Brazilian direct credit company. Of this, the central bank managed to block about 366 million reais, according to sources cited in the report.
The company explained that it detected “unauthorized activity in its Pix environment” and immediately suspended processing, activating cybersecurity protocols and working with external experts. Preliminary findings from its forensic investigation suggest that attackers exploited “legitimate credentials from IT vendors” to insert unauthorized transactions. Those credentials were revoked after the incident.
Sinqia stressed that the breach was limited to its Pix environment in Brazil and that there was no evidence of compromise in other systems or of personal data exposure.