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.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS