Swift CEO reveals three more failed attacks on banking network

Banks stopped three new attempts to abuse the Swift financial transfer network this summer, its CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said Monday, as he announced Swift’s plan to impose tighter security controls on its customers.

Swift provides the network that banks use to exchange funds internationally, and hit the headlines in February when attackers almost got away with a billion-dollar heist at Bangladesh Bank. In the end, they only succeeded in stealing US$81 million after hacking bank systems connected to the Swift network.

That prompted Swift to ratchet up security around its systems, which weren’t themselves breached, updating the software it provides banks and adding new audit and verification tools.

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