The representatives of the international interbank system of information transfer SWIFT refused to recognize that the vulnerability could lead to theft of $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh. This is stated in the statement, reports Reuters. According to the Agency, SWIFT for the first time commented on the allegations that hackers, who withdrew money, could exploit the vulnerability of the system.
“SWIFT is not responsible for any problems mentioned by the officials, or relevant decisions, the company said. — Like other SWIFT users, the Bangladesh Bank is responsible for the security of its systems interacting with the system and related environment — from basic protection with a password”.
Earlier, representatives of the Central Bank said that refunds stolen by hackers with $81 million will be discussed at a meeting in Basle with representatives of the Federal reserve Bank of new York, where his correspondent account, and one of the leaders of the SWIFT. “We look forward to the meeting <…> on 10 may, which will discuss security issues and these baseless allegations [about the vulnerabilities of the system],” reads the statement SWIFT.
According to Reuters, officials of Bangladesh Bank were of the opinion that SWIFT and the Federal reserve Bank of new York bear part of the responsibility for the withdrawal.
That hackers could use the vulnerability of the system, said the British company BAE Systems, which deals with developments in the field of armaments and information security. It experts speculated that the attackers were able to use malware to control client software, the so-called Alliance Access. Presumably, it allowed them to erase the record of unauthorized translations.
Major withdrawal of the Central Bank of Bangladesh became known in early March. The attackers tried to withdraw $951 million where Most of the action was blocked, but $81 million was transferred to accounts in the Philippines. As he wrote to Bloomberg, the Bank was not immediately found, hackers activity, its representatives only the next day found out that the exchange program with SWIFT terminal does not respond to commands.
In SWIFT not directly commented on the withdrawal of funds from the accounts of the Central Bank of Bangladesh. The company has stated about the awareness about the presence of malicious programs that threaten client welfare. In late April, the system has released a mandatory firmware upgrade
