Hackers Penetrated Highly Secured Computer Network of IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - that provides financial aid to countries facing balance-of-payment problems - was forced to shut down its computers for several days following the discovery of a malicious attack in the first week of November 2008, reported FOX News on November 14, 2008.

Soon after finding a spyware that was quickly spreading to high security computer network of the institution, IMF officials swung into action and clamped down all the systems on November 7, 2008.

Interestingly, the spyware was discovered at such a crucial time when the international financial institutions, including the World Bank, are trying to fight the global financial crisis by giving bailout packages.

Commenting on finding spyware on IMF computers, security experts stated that institution computers not only contained vital financial information of distressed nations, but also had information of worldwide central bank balances and currency payments that could be invaluable to a malicious user. This incidence has also highlighted the dangers of connecting world's financial systems with physical wiring that makes them highly vulnerable to attacks.

Tom Kellermann, Former Senior Computer Security Official at Ultra-Sensitive Treasury Unit, the World Bank, said that financial sector's electronic security is in great danger. Generally people forget that the financial sector is one of the most targeted sectors among critical infrastructure, as reported by FOX News on November 14, 2008.

The IMF and World Bank, like other public and private financial institutions, are not immune to hacking attacks, but they are constantly upgrading their security systems to give tough resistance to such attacks. Fortunately, every hacking attempt has proved futile as sensitive information in the treasury of the World Bank, human resources departments, anti-corruption and procurement is safely stored.

The World Bank Group had been continuously targeted by hackers in past few months, exposing the sensitive data stored on the systems of anti-poverty agency, as reported by FOX News on October 10, 2008. Attack discovered in the month of July 2008 originated from administrator account in Lotus Notes on a compromised system. But it is still unclear whether all the attacks were interrelated with each other or had nothing in common.

Related article: Hackers Redirect Windows Live Search to Malicious Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 01-12-2008

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