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IMF (International Monetary Fund) Snared By Major Cyber Attack

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IMF (International Monetary Fund) Snared By Major Cyber Attack

The latest organization which has fallen prey to an imperative cyber attack is none other than The International Monetary Fund, the intergovernmental group which keeps an eye on the global financial system, bringing together a total of 187 member nations under its umbrella.

The main motto of the intruder has been the installation of software which would provide a nation state with an “insider presence in a digital format” on the network of the IMF, said a cyber security expert. Consequently the non–public economic data which the Fund uses for the purpose of providing resources as a remedy for the members’ BOP Crisis, supporting balanced international trade, and promoting exchange rate stability, would easily be acquiesced.

Tom Kellerman, a member of the BoD of the group called International Cyber Security Protection Alliance, who has also worked previously in international financial institutions and was responsible for cyber-intelligence at the World Bank, the Funds’ sister institution, considers the attack to be targeted because the code used therein has been found to be developed particularly for attacking the institution

IMF is not the only organization which has fallen into the trap of the cyber break-ins; rather other high-profile institutions and companies have also been its victims, yielding their secrets to them. The list includes Citigroup Inc., Sony Corp and Lockheed Martin Corp. the economic implications are undoubtedly potentially far-reaching. However the Fund is still completely functional according to spokesperson of IMF David Hawley. Though he confirmed the current investigations into an incident, but was not in a position to elucidate on its extent. As per a spokeswoman in the US Defense Department, the US FBI is also providing assistance in the investigation.

DIFFICULT TO PROVE

Despite of the information shared on the link being non-sensitive in nature, the World Bank has cut its network connection with the IMF as a precautionary step. According to Jeff Moss, who is a member of the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Committee and also the chief security officer at ICANN, the main protagonist behind the attack is a nation state which wants to embezzle sensitive information so that it can get to know the IMF strategies of the first magnitude.

He also expressed his fear of other large institutions being ensnared as an inspiration because if they fail to catch them, then others might be bolstered to try. But concern has been expressed by the vigilant cyber security experts as to nailing which particular nation was behind the attack would be hard to prove for the investigators. “Leveraging the Internet for altering their ability and standing to influence is now quite easy even for the developing nations”, said the world renowned author, Jeffrey Carr. According to him it would have been impossible either without military might or without gold.

Cyber threats are on the increase worldwide. “A crippling cyber attack can anytime take the entire United States into its grip, thereafter impacting the governmental systems, their financial systems, their security and power systems, and the whole grid”, said director of CIA, Leon Panetta to the US Congress this week.

‘SUSPICIOUS FILE TRANSFERS´

As per Bloomberg News, it all happened prior to the 14 May arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former IMF MD on charges of sexual assault (The IMF is on the lookout for a new head subsequent to his resignation), because many e-mails and other documents were lost in the process. The duration for which the assault had lasted was several months whereas the computer experts have to say that the IMF BoD came to know of the attack on Wednesday, as per The New York Times.

The employees of the IMF were warned to be watchful through an internal IMF memo, because” a few distrustful file transfers were detected last week and it was found that a desktop computer within the Fund was being compromised and used for accessing some Fund systems,” as per an email dated June 8 sent to all the employees from Jonathan Palmer, Chief Information Officer.


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