Congress Wants a Closer Look at Bangladesh Bank Theft
The theft earlier this year of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank account at the New York Federal Reserve has caught the attention of more Congressional investigators. The chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Lamar Smith (R-Texas), has given New York Federal Reserve officials until June 14 to turn over documents related to the incident.
In a letter to New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley, Smith requests all documents and communication related to the breach, which took place in February, along with information related to the SWIFT system and its cybersecurity, and data about any technology reviews the agency did in the wake of the attack.
The hackers would have stolen more money had they not misspelled the name of the nonprofit to which the money was going. As well, the New York Federal Reserve reportedly stopped 30 of the 35 orders through which the criminals, who were using malware, were taking money from the account. Last late month, security experts reportedly identified the malware used in this and other bank hacking attacks as originating from the North Korean government.
In March, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat and member of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a similar letter the agency, which defended its procedures.
Related stories:
