Philippine Central Bank Warns Local Financial Institutions of “Hacker Attack on Malaysian Central Bank SWIFT System”

According to securityaffairs reports, after hacking the Malaysian Central Bank’s SWIFT server on Tuesday, the Philippine Central Bank issued a warning to local financial institutions. The Malaysian Central Bank confirmed that hackers sent fraudulent wire transfers to the target bank through SWIFT Bank Clearing System in order to lure them into bank transfer. However, it was alleged that hacking by hackers had not been successful because the cyber attack did not result in the loss of any funds.

Although it is unclear how hackers have access to the Malaysian Central Bank’s SWIFT server, it has not investigated the specific identity of hackers. But the Bank of Malaysia, which oversees 45 commercial banks in the country, said it would not interrupt other payment and settlement systems due to cyber attacks. In addition, the Malaysian Central Bank stated in a statement that it has taken additional security measures to protect its stakeholders. Through strong cooperation with other central banks, SWIFT platforms, and financial institutions, they quickly take action to block all unauthorized transactions. This is the second case in which the Central Bank of the country was hacked after the Bangladesh Central Bank had stolen $81 million in 2016.

In 2016, the Philippine Central Bank was also involved in the cyber robbery of the Bank of Bangladesh. After the hackers stole $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh, they transferred the money to multiple accounts of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in Manila, Philippines, and used the funds to enter the local casino industry. In this incident, the Philippine Central Bank was fined $20 million for failing to prevent the fraudulent transfer of currency.

Razee Hassan, Deputy Governor of Bank of Bangladesh, believes that the Malaysian Central Bank’s cyber attacks have shown that the SWIFT platform remains fragile, as this has happened after SWIFT took several measures to protect the system worldwide, which means that criminals may be With more sufficient capabilities and more powerful cyber weapons, it is particularly important to further improve the global financial transfer system.

Source: Security Affairs