Unknown hackers stole $6 million from a Russian bank via SWIFT system last year

A new attack against the SWIFT system made the headlines again, unknown hackers have stolen 339.5 million roubles (roughly $6 million) from a Russian bank last year.

The news of the attack against the international payments messaging system was reported on Friday by the Russian central bank, this is the last incident of a long string of cyber heists.

“The volume of unsanctioned operations as a result of this attack amounted to 339.5 million roubles,” states the Russian central bank.

“The central bank said it had been sent information about “one successful attack on the work place of a SWIFT system operator.” reported the Reuters agency.

According to a spokesman for the central bank, hackers took control of a computer at a Russian bank and transferred the money to an account they controlled through the payment messaging system.

The spokesman did not provide details about the attack, he quoted Artem Sychev, deputy head of the central bank’s security department, as saying the hackers implemented “a common scheme”.

“When a case of potential fraud is reported to us, we offer our assistance to the affected user to help secure its environment,” said Natasha de Teran, a spokeswoman for SWIFT.

SWIFT highlighted that its “own systems” have never been compromised by attackers in past attacks.

“Brussels-based SWIFT said late last year digital heists were becoming increasingly prominent as hackers use more sophisticated tools and techniques to launch new attacks.” continues the Reuters.

This isn’t the only cyber attacks against a Russian bank that attempted to steal money through the SWIFT system, in December, hackers tried to steal 55 million roubles from Russian state bank Globex.

The string of attacks began with the cyber attack against Bangladesh Bank in February 2016 that resulted in the theft of $81 million.

Even if the SWIFT hasn’t revealed the exact number of victims of the SWIFT hackers, details on some attacks were revealed, such as the attack on Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Russia, Russian central bank)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.