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IMF becomes target of major cyber attack

International Monetary Fund computers fall prey to hackers. Officials say IMF fully functional; FBI investigating

The International Monetary Fund, the intergovernmental group that oversees the global financial system and brings together 187 member nations, has become the latest known target of a significant cyber attack on its computer systems.

 

A cyber-security expert who has worked for both the Washington-headquartered IMF and the World Bank, its sister-institution, said the intruders' goal had been to install software that would give a nation state a "digital insider presence" on the IMF network.  

 

Such a presence could yield a trove of non-public economic data used by the Fund to promote exchange rate stability, support balanced international trade and provide resources to remedy members' balance-of-payments crises.

 

"It was a targeted attack," said Tom Kellerman, who has worked for both international financial institutions and who serves on the board of a group known as the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance.

 

The code used in the IMF incident "was developed and released for this purpose," said Kellerman, formerly responsible for cyber-intelligence within the World Bank's treasury team and now chief technology officer at AirPatrol, a cyber consultancy.

 

The attack on the IMF was the latest to become known in a rash of cyber break-ins that have targeted high-profile companies and institutions, often to steal secrets with potentially far-reaching economic implications.

 

IMF spokesman David Hawley said Saturday the Fund was "fully functional," despite the attack.

 

"I can confirm that we are investigating an incident," he said, adding that he was not in a position to elaborate on the extent of it. He declined to respond to requests for comment on Kellerman's conclusion about the intruders' goal.

 

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined an investigation of the attack on the IMF, a US Defense Department spokeswoman, Lieutenant Colonel April Cunningham of the Air Force, said in an email to Reuters Saturday night.

 

The FBI, the government's main criminal investigative body, said it could not comment on whether it was investigating.

 

Bloomberg News reported the IMF's computer system was attacked by intruders "believed to be connected to a foreign government, resulting in the loss of e-mails and other documents."

 

A World Bank official said the Bank had cut its network connection with the IMF out of "caution" even though the information shared on that link was "non sensitive."

 

Rich Mills, a Bank spokesman, said "the World Bank Group, like any other large organization, is increasingly aware of potential threats to the security of our information system and we are constantly working to improve our defenses."

 

Experts say cyber threats are increasing worldwide. CIA Director Leon Panetta told the U.S. Congress this week the United States faces the "real possibility" of a crippling cyber attack.

 

"The next Pearl Harbor that we confront," he said, could be a cyber attack that "cripples our power systems, our grid, our security systems, our financial systems, our governmental systems."

 

"This is a real possibility in today's world," Panetta told a June 9 confirmation hearing in his bid to become the next US defense secretary.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.12.11, 07:18
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