Banks, “SWIFT,” Wrangle Over Fault For Online Heist

In the wake of an $81 million online theft from a Bangladeshi bank that was using the SWIFT system, the international money-transfer organization has issued it first ever security guidance to member banks. SWIFT, which stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a bank-owned cooperative that was founded in Brussels in 1973. Bangladeshi authorities have laid some of the blame on SWIFT, but SWIFT blames the bank and says, in a guidance sent to all of its users, that it “cannot, be responsible for your decision to select, implement (and maintain) firewalls, nor the proper segregation of your internal networks.” Since the theft, SWIFT, the Bangladeshi bank and the New York Fed – which was holding the money that was stolen and did manage to thwart some of the hackers efforts – have met and agreed to work more closely on security. Also since the Bangladeshi theft, details began to emerge about another major bank theft targeting the SWIFT system, apparently using a similar modus operandi.