The fallability of the SWIFT international bank transfer system that underpins the global banking network has again been exposed. SWIFT advertises itself as the global provider of 'secure financial messaging services'. That claim of being 'secure' has been undermined with serious financial consequences.
After the Bangladesh Bank breach comes the revelation that Banco del Austro SA in Ecuador was hacked in 2015, the result being that a group of cyber crooks are now $12 million richer.
Banco del Austro SA sued Wells Fargo of New York claiming that credentials from the American bank were used to transfer funds. In addition, Wells Fargo is accused of having failed to flag suspicious transactions.
There are serious concerns that SWIFT may be on its last legs, a system increasingly difficult/expensive to maintain that is clearly in need of an overhaul. Swift CEO, Gottfried Liebbrandt, has been forced to admit that the platform is so plagued by insecurity that a bank could eventually fold as a result of a similar future breach.
At the same time SWIFT is insistent that they are not responsible for any of the breaches, instead shifting the blame to the individual banks involved. So far the most SWIFT has offered their users is a new 'KB tip' security information sharing platform.
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