UPDATE: Real loss from hackers may exceed official data 10–20 times – Sberbank

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MOSCOW, Feb 20 (PRIME) -- Officially announced losses of Russia’s banking system from hackers may be below the real amount by 10–20 times, Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of Sberbank, the country’s biggest bank, said on Tuesday.

“We carried out a comparative analysis of some segments of the economy and concluded that the official data could fail to correspond to the real volume of damage from 10 to 20 times. It’s unlikely that anyone could count losses from hackers when banks keep thefts a secret. This is why this error rate can apply to official figures released by the central bank,” Kuznetsov said.

“As to Sberbank, we have a cyber protection system built on several levels. Last year, in July, the banking system of the Russian Federation was attacked by so-called ‘dormant’ viruses that can manage operating systems. We registered such attacks, but they were continued later, in autumn, and a number of banks were hit.”

The central bank said earlier in February that hackers orchestrated 11 successful attacks on Russian banks in 2017 with the Cobalt Strike virus and stole 1.156 billion ruble.

Kuznetsov said that losses could be avoided if banks have a well-established information exchange.

Sberbank has concluded more than 120 contracts of insurance against cyber risks with Russian and foreign companies, the executive said.

“I said earlier that at the end of February–March we were going to start selling products on insurance against cyber risks. We stick to the plan and see demand for such services not only in Russia, but also abroad,” he said.

(56.3438 rubles – U.S. $1)

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