FBI suspects bank worker may have acted as accomplice in the $81 Million theft.

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

May 11, 2016

1 Min Read

Investigations being carried out in the $81 Million Bangladesh Bank heist point fingers at an inside job with at least one worker being suspected of acting as a collaborator, reports Security Week quoting the Wall Street Journal.

The FBI, which is carrying out the probe, has also indicated that a ‘handful of others’ may be involved in the well-planned theft that raises questions over how secure the worldwide linking of central banks are.

In February, hackers attempted to steal nearly $1 billion from the account of Bangladesh Bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York via the SWIFT network. They allegedly managed to breach the bank’s computers to gather details on international payments and fund transfers and fabricated electronic transfer orders for payment. By the time the US Fed Bank reacted to the fraudulent transfers and stopped them, $81 Million had already been transferred to the Philippines.

Bangladesh Bank has partly blamed SWIFT for the theft, say sources, but the network services company claims the bank was responsible for its internal security.

Read more on this story at Security Week.

About the Author(s)

Dark Reading Staff

Dark Reading

Dark Reading is a leading cybersecurity media site.

Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox.

You May Also Like


More Insights