Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday requested that government agencies review the nation’s information security after Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀) reported that its system was hacked earlier in the week.
The premier was fully briefed on the incident and instructed the government to learn from the case and tighten information security by closing vulnerabilities, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Far Eastern on Friday said it reported to the Financial Supervisory Commission that malware had been implanted in its computer system, which affected some of its PCs and servers, as well as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network.
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
SWIFT is a members-only organization that provides safe and secure financial transactions for its members via a standardized proprietary communications platform, which can facilitate the transmission of information about financial transactions.
Through the malware, hackers conducted virtual transactions to move funds totaling nearly US$60 million from Far Eastern clients’ accounts to foreign destinations such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia and the US, the bank found on Tuesday.
However, the bank said that due to its efforts to trace back the lost funds, the cyberattack cost the bank less than US$500,000.
As efforts to trace the lost funds by underpinning certain fund movements continue, the loss could be reduced to zero, it added.
The hacking did not lead to any leaks of client information, Far Eastern said.
Far Eastern vice president Liu Lung-kuang (劉龍光) yesterday told reporters that the origin of the malware has not been confirmed, but added that the bank is sure that the malicious software used to attack the transaction system is a new variety that had never been seen before.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday said that it has launched an investigation into the cyberattack and requested that the bank submit details about its computer operations after it reported the case to the bureau on Thursday.
The bureau said it has also informed the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, of the case and asked for assistance.
Due to the international assistance, the bureau said Far Eastern’s losses are expected to be less than US$500,000, adding that similar hacking cases were reported in Vietnam and Bangladesh in 2015 and last year.
It was the first case in which malware was implanted into a Taiwanese bank’s computer network to transfer massive amounts of funds out of clients’ accounts.
The commission said that it was an isolated case, adding that no other incidents have been reported in the nation.
Far Eastern will have to shoulder all of the responsibility for the incident and bear all possible losses so that its clients’ interests will not be affected, the commission said.
The commission said it has asked Far Eastern to submit a comprehensive report on the incident to determine whether the bank should face regulatory punishment.
The commission has asked all banks in the nation to tighten controls on transactions during the ongoing four-day Double Ten National Day holiday.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Several of the PLA fighter jets that crossed the median line of the Strait came within 68km of Hsinchu, drawing warnings from Taiwan, the ministry said At least 18 Chinese military aircraft yesterday flew into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on the second day of a US delegation’s visit, the Ministry of National Defense said, adding that the military responded by deploying an air defense missile system to monitor their activities. A delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach on Thursday started a three-day visit to Taiwan. The ministry from Thursday started publicizing the actions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Taiwan’s ADIZ on its Web site and Twitter. According to ministry reports, 18 PLA aircraft
TWO CASES: The five allegedly conspired with conglomerates, threatening the nation’s governance and subverting the rules of ethical conduct, a deputy chief prosecutor said Taipei prosecutors yesterday charged three legislators and one former lawmaker with contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) in a case linked to former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung’s (李恆隆) battle with the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) over ownership of the Pacific SOGO Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) chain, while independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) was indicted in a separate case involving two funeral services companies and a plot of land in a national park. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and former New Power Party legislator
Swedish Member of Parliament Hampus Hagman is pushing for changing the name of the nation’s trade office in Taipei to signal improved relations with “Asia’s perhaps foremost democracy.” Hagman on Wednesday last week proposed renaming the Swedish Trade and Invest Council to “Sweden’s Office in Taipei,” following similar changes by other nations. The Swedish Trade and Invest Council, part of Business Sweden, is owned by the Swedish government and Swedish industry. Taiwan and Sweden share important values such as respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law and freedom of speech, Hagman said in the motion, adding that the two nations
PENGHU INSPECTION: Taiwan cannot let its enemies strut around in its airspace, Tsai said, one day after a Chinese spokesman denied a median line exists in the Taiwan Strait Following China’s assertion on Monday that there is no “median line” in the Taiwan Strait, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pledged to defend the nation’s airspace during a visit to an air force base in Penghu, saying that Taiwan cannot allow others to flex their military muscle in its territorial airspace. Tsai praised the “heroic performance” of the pilots of the Indigenous Defense Fighters who have been intercepting Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes in recent days. “I have a lot of confidence in you. As soldiers of the Republic of China [ROC], how could we let enemies strut
RSS