Financial institutions across Salad Land were hit with a massive hack today, causing major disruption to the island nation’s banking system.
Multiple banks, currency exchanges, brokerage and investment firms were hit by the outage. Most of them were forced offline completely. They were unable to conduct any transactions or provide their clients and customers with any updates throughout the day. Many of those firms have since reported restoring at least partial services, although intermittent problems appear to be persisting.
The Saladian Stock Exchange was also forced offline by the hack, forcing a halt to all trading for the entire day. SSE officials said that they are optimistic that they will be able to resume operations tomorrow.
While no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the hack or make demands, Prime Minister Leighton Taylor made it clear who he believes is responsible. “The Xiomeran Empire is behind this attack on our financial institutions. They have to be. Who else would have a reason to attack us this way?”
The Saladian government had recently frozen billions in Xiomeran funds and assets in response to that country’s continuing interference in its neighbor Huenya. Xiomera’s own Prime Minister, Toquihu, had warned the day the freeze was implemented that Xiomera would retaliate if the funds were not released.
The impact of the hack is expected to not be confined only to Salad Land. As one of the world’s largest offshore banking centers, the island nation handles funds and investments for everyone from governments to individuals. The daylong crash of the Saladian banking system is expected to send a jolt to the international economy.
If Xiomera is indeed behind the hack, Saladian financial leaders have expressed concern that this is merely the prelude to more severe Xiomeran retaliation should their government continue to freeze Xiomeran funds. The move on Salad Land is also seen as a shot across the bow to warn any other nations of potential consequences should they implement similar restrictions on Xiomeran assets. As of press time, however, PM Taylor has indicated that his country will not back down. “Xiomera will not bully us,” he said.
