UPDATE: SWIFT says ready to help attacked banks in case of fraud
(Adds expert comments in last three paragraphs)
MOSCOW, Dec 19 (PRIME) -- The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system is ready to offer assistance to credit organizations in case of possible fraud, a society spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“When we’re reported on a possible fraud, we offer help to an affected user. As one of the measures within our program of client security is that we hand over to the community corresponding information on the grounds of anonymity. It maintains confidentiality with helping other SWIFT users to take due measures to protect themselves,” the spokesperson said.
Business news daily Kommersant reported earlier on Tuesday that Russia had witnessed a successful attack allegedly by hacker group Cobalt on one of its banks with money being withdrawn abroad through SWIFT for the first time.
A Russian central bank spokesperson confirmed that the successful attack took place on December 15, while no further details were officially disclosed.
Sergei Golovanov, a leading expert at antivirus software genius Kaspersky Lab, said that hackers had actively used SWIFT worldwide in 2016–2017.
“In 2017 cybercriminals have significantly expanded the range of attacked financial organizations: not only banks suffered from their activities, but also e-money systems, cryptocurrency exchanges, funds of capital management and even casinos,” the expert said.
According to Kaspersky Lab, the first successful attack on SWIFT was committed by group Carbanak in 2014. This group masterminded the biggest wave of attacks on banks in 2014, Golovanov said.
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