Hackers swiped $10m from a Ukrainian bank by utilizing the inter-bank transfer system SWIFT to transfer their plunder.
The breach from an unidentified Ukrainian bank comes after reports of cyber-heists at other financial institutions on a global scale. The largest being $81 million from an account kept in New York City by Bangladesh’s central bank.
The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) was hired by the breached Ukrainian bank to examine the hack and clear up the destruction. Professionals said they discovered proof of criminals hijacking internal networks to move millions into a web of international companies via SWIFT.
“At the current moment, dozens of banks (mostly in Ukraine and Russia) have been compromised, from which has been stolen hundreds of millions of dollars,” stated ISACA.
Security researchers at BAE Systems and Symantec connected the group behind the Bangladesh account hack to the hackers who breached Sony Pictures Entertainment’s networks last year. The federal government blames the Sony infiltration on North Korea. So it’s suspected Pyongyang was also behind the SWIFT related hacks.
SWIFT has continuously said its own network and services are safe, and also has continuously held the banks at fault for enabling hackers to obtain access to internal systems used for inter-bank transactions.
The SWIFT global banking system has recently announced they will suspend banks that do not pass their security qualifications.
