Article content continued

BMO, Canada’s fourth largest bank, said it believes the purported attackers initiated the assault from outside the country. The bank added that it was proactively contacting customers who may have been affected.

“We took steps immediately when the incident occurred and we are confident that exposures identified related to customer data have been closed off,” the bank said in a statement.

BMO’s spokesperson said the issue appears to be related to a similar one at Simplii, CIBC’s direct banking brand. Simplii announced Monday that it had implemented additional online security measures in response to a claim that personal and account data of around 40,000 clients may have been accessed electronically.

While Simplii said there is currently no sign of clients banking through CIBC being affected, a spokesperson noted that it was trying to determine the validity of the claim and the type of information that could have been accessed. It also vowed to reach out to customers and to return 100 per cent of any money lost from a client’s account because of the situation.

“We’re taking this claim seriously and have taken action to further enhance our monitoring and security procedures,” said Michael Martin, senior vice-president at Simplii Financial, in a release. “We feel that it is important to inform clients so that they can also take additional steps to safeguard their information.”

No similar issues were reported Monday by Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada or Toronto-Dominion Bank.