Bangladeshi bank heist used official’s PC
Print Edition
A BANGLADESHI central bank official’s computer was used by unidentified hackers to make payments via SWIFT, and carry out one of the biggest-ever cyber heists, a Bangladeshi diplomat said yesterday at the end of a Philippine Senate inquiry.
There were certain indications about who the hackers were, Bangladesh Ambassador John Gomes told a panel looking into how the US$81 million in stolen money ended up in the Philippines, citing information shared by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Gomes said the hackers were neither in the Philippines nor Bangladesh.
“One of our bank officials who is in the group that makes payments, that passes the payment instructions, his computer was hacked,” Gomes said.
“It was a Friday when the attack happened and the central bank is shut down. It was all sealed and no one goes to the bank on that day.”
There was no evidence directly linking anyone in Bangladesh to the cyber heist, Gomes said.
The hackers sent fraudulent messages, ostensibly from the central bank in Dhaka, on the SWIFT system, to the New York Federal Reserve seeking to transfer nearly US$1 billion from Bangladesh Bank’s account there. Most of the transfers were blocked but about US$81 million was sent to a bank in the Philippines. It was moved to casinos and casino agents and much of it is missing.
Ralph Recto, one of the Philippine senators leading the investigation, said in April that Chinese hackers were likely to have pulled off the heist, citing a network of people involved in routing the stolen funds through Manila. China has dismissed the suggestion.
Bangladesh Bank officials have said they believed SWIFT, and the New York Fed, bear some responsibility for the cyber heist, but SWIFT has rejected the suggestion.
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