Newsroom

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication has been hit by malware previously blamed for an attack on the New York Federal Reserve Bank, according to The Wall Street Journal.

SWIFT is responsible for an international messaging system used by banks.

WSJ reported that the malware targeted an unnamed commercial bank and sent SWIFT messages using the bank's actual SWIFT codes. The attack is being linked to a previous theft of $81 million from the Bangladeshi government's account at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

WSJ obtained a SWIFT notice to banks saying: "Forensic experts believe this new discovery evidences that the malware used in the earlier reported customer incident was not a single occurrence, but part of a wider and highly adaptive campaign targeting banks."

Earlier this month, Newsweek reported that ransomware attacks in the U.S. increased by 159 percent in April, reaching their highest level in history. NAFCU remains vigilant in keeping up best practices on cybersecurity and monitoring the nature of cybersecurity threats.

NAFCU continues to remain engaged on cyber and data security issues and to advocate the adoption of the "Data Security Act," which would hold retailers to the same standards financial institutions follow under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and create breach notification standards.