Cybersecurity

Sri Lanka Makes Arrests in $60 Million Taiwanese Bank Cyberheist

  • Far Eastern International Bank says most money recovered
  • Follows hacking of Bangladesh’s central bank last year

Data cables connect to a computer server unit inside a communications room at an office in London, U.K., on Monday, May 15, 2017. Governments and companies around the world began to gain the upper hand against the first wave of an unrivaled global cyberattack, even as the assault was poised to continue claiming victims this week.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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Sri Lankan police have arrested two people after a Taiwanese bank said hackers stole about $60 million and wired the cash to accounts in Asia and the U.S., the latest cyberheist to afflict the global financial system.

Far Eastern International Bank’s computer systems were attacked by malware that affected several transactions and has since been removed, the Taipei-based lender said in a statement. The money was sent via the Swift network to accounts in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and the U.S., and about $46 million has been recovered, Chief Executive Vice President Lin Jiann-jong said by phone on Thursday. Any losses are unlikely to exceed $500,000, Lin said.