The International Monetary Fund’s computer system was invaded by hackers recently, a potentially sensitive breach of a system that analyzes confidential information about the finances of most of the world’s economies.
The scope and significance of the cyberattack are still being evaluated, but it marks the third recent raid on a major government financial institution.
The attacks come at a time when world economic officials are debating possible changes to currency rules, developing new regulations for banks and financial institutions, and crafting guidelines for the management of the world’s top economies — issues that make inside information extremely valuable to an investor or an interested government.
IMF officials provided few details about the cyberattack, which occurred as the agency is wrestling with complex and contentious financial rescue programs in several European nations that have required painful cuts in social spending. The organization is also pressing nations such as China to reform their financial and currency policies.
There was “an incident of intrusion into our IT system,” IMF spokesman David Hawley said Saturday. “We are investigating, and the fund is fully functional.”
The hack was “recently detected,” Hawley said, but he would not discuss when the intrusion occurred, how long it lasted, or the nature or amount of data that might have been compromised.
A U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman said there was no reason to believe that sensitive information about the U.S. economy was jeopardized. The FBI will help investigate the incident, the Reuters news service reported late Saturday, citing a Defense Department spokeswoman.
IMF employees were told of the potentially serious “phishing” attack, first reported in the New York Times, in a memo on Wednesday. Staff members were given “the usual reminders” about computer security, Hawley said.
An intranet that links the IMF with the nearby World Bank was temporarily disconnected, according to a bank official who said the step was taken “out of an abundance of caution,” and that the link included only “nonpublic, nonsensitive” information that allowed the two agencies to continue coordinating their work.
Depending on the type of information involved, the potential for disruptions to international markets is significant. Ongoing bailout talks in Greece, for example, hinge on whether private holders of Greek bonds will be forced to accept losses before the IMF and other European nations lend any more money to the deeply indebted nation.
Read more at The Washington Post.