SWIFT: Second bank targeted in malware attack
The financial messaging services provider said that a commercial bank was hit in an attack similar to February’s theft of US$81m from Bangladesh’s central bank.
The financial messaging services provider said that a commercial bank was hit in an attack similar to February’s theft of US$81m from Bangladesh’s central bank.
A cyberattack, similar to that used to steal US$81m (£56m) from Bangladesh’s central bank in February, has hit a second bank said Swift.
The most recent incident involved a commercial bank according to the financial messaging services provider, although Swift spokeswoman Natasha de Teran did not reveal the name. or how much money, if any, was stolen in the second attack.
However, the attacker was someone with “deep knowledge of specific operational controls” and may have been assisted by “malicious insiders or cyberattacks, or a combination of both”.
Swift suggested that the more recent attack demonstrated that the Bangladesh heist was not a single occurrence, “but part of a wider and highly adaptive campaign targeting banks”. In both attacks the thieves sought to submit fraudulent messages to the Swift network to transfer large amounts of cash to accounts they controlled.
It added that its core network remained secure despite the attempts by cyberthieves to manipulate it. Last month, Swift released software updates that it said would help customers improve security.
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