The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has revealed that more banks have been targeted in cyber attacks, following attacks on a bank in Bangladesh and another unnamed bank earlier in 2016.

In a letter sent to member institutions, SWIFT urged members to upgrade their systems to comply with security procedures, as new cyber-theft attempts, including some successful ones, had surfaced since June.

The organization did not indicate how much had been stolen nor did they name the banks involved, only saying that some victims in the new attacks lost money.

“Customers’ environments have been compromised, and subsequent attempts (were) made to send fraudulent payment instructions,” the letter read according to Reuters. “The threat is persistent, adaptive and sophisticated – and it is here to stay.”

The notice did disclose, however, that the new victims did share a common theme: they all had flaws in their network security that allowed hackers to gain access to their systems and send fraudulent messages requesting money transfers. In the case of the hacking of Bangladesh’s Central Bank in February, it was discovered that the bank itself was using a $10 second-hand network that had no firewall protection from the outside world.

Security upgrade

SWIFT has given member institutions until November 19 to install the latest version of its software, which is said to include new security features designed to thwart the type of attacks described in the letter, and warned banks that didn’t implement the upgrade that they may be reported to regulators if they don’t comply.

“In a communication to all users, SWIFT has informed its customers about the tangible results already delivered by the Customer Security Program, urged customers to take appropriate measures and warned on ongoing attacks on customer firms,” a SWIFT spokesperson said in a statement.

“The letter reassures SWIFT customers that the cooperative has no indication that the SWIFT network and core messaging services have been compromised and sets out the progress SWIFT has made with its Customer Security Program.”

Some security experts are questioning SWIFT’s response, however.

“The number of breach incidents has drawn attention to a serious vulnerability between SWIFT clients and the SWIFT network,” security analyst J. Paul Hayne told SearchSecurity. “Many of the banks targeted through the latest rash of attacks operate in countries where regulatory controls aren’t as stringent or are underdeveloped. Clearly attackers found a high level of success focusing on banks in regions known to have lighter defense controls.”

Given that it has been backdoor access through bank networks themselves so far, it’s not clear how SWIFT’s security update will entirely protect members against future attacks.

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