Today’s winner of the new game called “who’s admitting to having their corporate systems hacked” is the IMF. They disclosed today that they had been the victims of a very serious hack:
The fund, which manages financial crises around the world and is the repository of highly confidential information about the fiscal condition of many nations, told its staff and its board of directors about the attack on Wednesday. But it did not make a public announcement.
Several senior officials with knowledge of the attack said it was both sophisticated and serious.
Lovely. At least it stops the world from talking about Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his problems stemming from the rape of a maid in a NYC hotel.
Oh, sorry. I was digressing. The stuff that the hackers could have gotten their hands on makes this hack one that will have money markets and governments freaking out. Why? Here’s why:
Because the fund has been at the center of economic bailout programs for Portugal, Greece and Ireland — and possesses sensitive data on other countries that may be on the brink of crisis — its database contains potentially market-moving information. It also includes communications with national leaders as they negotiate, often behind the scenes, on the terms of international bailouts. Those agreements are, in the words of one fund official, “political dynamite in many countries.” It was unclear what information the attackers were able to access.
But there’s more:
The concern about the attack was so significant that the World Bank, an international agency focused on economic development, whose headquarters is across the street from the I.M.F. in downtown Washington, cut the computer link that allows the two institutions to share information.
Well, that has to suck.
One thing to consider, the article suggests that this happened before Strauss-Kahn got arrested. So putting that into perspective, this hack happened before May 14th which is when his “problems” started. That means that the IMF has sat on this info for at least a month.
I’ll say it one more time. When is this going to get taken seriously? It’s completely unacceptable that hacks like these happen and no public disclosure takes place. Where’s are the laws that make this behavior illegal?
Another question. Who’s next?
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Another Day, Another Hack At A Major Organization…. Will The Madness Ever Stop?
Today’s winner of the new game called “who’s admitting to having their corporate systems hacked” is the IMF. They disclosed today that they had been the victims of a very serious hack:
The fund, which manages financial crises around the world and is the repository of highly confidential information about the fiscal condition of many nations, told its staff and its board of directors about the attack on Wednesday. But it did not make a public announcement.
Several senior officials with knowledge of the attack said it was both sophisticated and serious.
Lovely. At least it stops the world from talking about Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his problems stemming from the rape of a maid in a NYC hotel.
Oh, sorry. I was digressing. The stuff that the hackers could have gotten their hands on makes this hack one that will have money markets and governments freaking out. Why? Here’s why:
Because the fund has been at the center of economic bailout programs for Portugal, Greece and Ireland — and possesses sensitive data on other countries that may be on the brink of crisis — its database contains potentially market-moving information. It also includes communications with national leaders as they negotiate, often behind the scenes, on the terms of international bailouts. Those agreements are, in the words of one fund official, “political dynamite in many countries.” It was unclear what information the attackers were able to access.
But there’s more:
The concern about the attack was so significant that the World Bank, an international agency focused on economic development, whose headquarters is across the street from the I.M.F. in downtown Washington, cut the computer link that allows the two institutions to share information.
Well, that has to suck.
One thing to consider, the article suggests that this happened before Strauss-Kahn got arrested. So putting that into perspective, this hack happened before May 14th which is when his “problems” started. That means that the IMF has sat on this info for at least a month.
I’ll say it one more time. When is this going to get taken seriously? It’s completely unacceptable that hacks like these happen and no public disclosure takes place. Where’s are the laws that make this behavior illegal?
Another question. Who’s next?
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This entry was posted on June 11, 2011 at 9:04 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Hacked, IMF. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.