Last week, a hacking group was able to abuse the SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) banking network to steal $60 million after installing malware on a Taiwanese bank’s servers.
The Far Eastern International Bank has admitted that malware had been found on its machine systems, affecting PCs and servers, as well as its SWIFT terminal.
SWIFT is the system that enables banks to send money securely to each other around the world. It provides a network that allows financial organizations worldwide to send and receive data about financial transactions in a secure, standardized and reliable environment.
Most of the stolen funds have now been recovered, and the loss incurred by the bank due to the hacking incident is less than 500,000 US dollars, the governments have made two arrests in connection with the bank cyber-heist.
According to banking department deputy director Sherri Chuang, the Bank was able to recover $57 million that had been wired to Cambodia, $1 million sent to the United States, and $1.6 million sent to Sri Lanka.
‘Two suspects were arrested last week in Sri Lanka when they tried to withdraw the money, and police were looking for a third person.”
