Cybersecurity
Mexico Foiled a $110 Million Bank Heist, Then Kept It a Secret
- Now, its banking system is being hit by a new wave of attacks
- Policy makers are being criticized for a lack of communication
A Banorte bank branch in Mexico City.
Photographer: Jonathan Levinson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
On a Tuesday morning in early January, the computer system at Mexico’s state-owned trade bank went haywire. Some of Bancomext’s workers couldn’t get their PCs to turn on. The internet was slow. Routine operations were taking longer than normal.
Inside the lender’s concrete-and-glass building on the southern outskirts of Mexico City, a mid-level technician was monitoring messages coming in on the Swift network, the air-traffic control system for sending money around the world. His job was to check fund transfers to make sure they matched the payment orders dispatched by Swift.