Financial Industries Pressured To Improve Cybersecurity Practices

Financial Industries Pressured To Improve Cybersecurity Practices by Kayla Matthews

No, it’s not the plot of “Ocean’s Eleven.” This February, $81 million was stolen by hackers from Bangladesh’s central bank. The money was then moved to casinos in the Philippines, and because casinos there are not included in anti-money laundering laws, from there its location is unknown.

The Society for Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), an international money transfer network used by thousands of banks, issues credentials to bank employees, which grants them permission to move money across the network. The hackers in the Bangladesh attack used stolen SWIFT credentials to complete money transactions just as a legitimate bank employee would.

The Bangladesh Bank had few cybersecurity measures in place to prevent...