Russia Says Cybercriminals Stole $31 Million from Central Bank
Cybercriminals have stolen about $31 million from Russian Central Bank accounts, according to a Reuters report. The hackers broke into bank accounts after faking a client’s credentials, a bank spokesman said at a briefing, disclosing few other details. In a separate instance, Russia had recently warned about a plot by foreign countries to wage cyberattacks on its financial institutions.
The Russia cyber theft and warning follows increased global attention to digital attacks on banks. Earlier this year, criminals stole money from the Bangladesh account at the New York Federal Reserve and diverted $81 million to banks in the Philippines. The hackers tried to divert a further $20 million to at least one bank in Sri Lanka but that move was prevented because the hackers misspelled the name of the nonprofit to which the money was going.
The software code used in the Bangladesh attack reportedly came from the North Korean government.
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