Cybersecurity
Could Blockchain Have Prevented Bangladesh’s Central Bank Hack?
- Swift CEO says blockchain is an option to secure messages
- Payments cooperative is part of a major blockchain project
Blythe Masters.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In late April, blockchain evangelist Blythe Masters told a crowd in the London Docklands that banks could solve many of their problems if they embraced the transaction-processing technology.
The former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive could also have been talking about Swift, which hosted the conference. The messaging system for transfers between banks was facing a crisis that had been bubbling under the surface for months. Hackers have exploited the Swift system to steal $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank, and may have infiltrated as many as 12 banks.