China National News
24 Mar 2017, 08:56 GMT+10
NEW YORK, U.S. - U.S. prosecutors are reportedly investigation links to North Korea in a 2016 massive cyber heist case.
The heist last year resulted in the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh' central bank's account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Investigators are said to be probing the North Korean links because of the similarity of the hack to an earlier breach of Sony Pictures Entertainment, sources quoted in reports stated. Last year, cyber-security experts had pointed out that the theft from the Bangladesh central bank's account used the same hacking tools used in the 2014 attack on the entertainment firm, Sony, that made the move "The Interview."
The movie had mocked the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. So far, however, no charges have been filed. After the Sony hack in 2014, FBI linked it to North Korea and the same year, a blackout of North Korea's internet followed.
Earlier this week, Richard Ledgett, deputy director of the National Security Agency, said that the Sony attack was correctly attributed to the North Korean government.
"If that attribution is true, if that linkage from Sony actors to Bangladeshi bank actors is accurate, that means a nation state is robbing banks. That is a big deal in my opinion," Ledgett said.
Meanwhile, the case unfolded on February 4 and 5 last year and witnessed hackers breaching Bangladesh Bank's systems and trying to steal nearly $1 billion from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Reports specified then that most of the payments were blocked but $81 million was routed to accounts in the Philippines and diverted to casinos there.
Another $20 million was sent to a company in Sri Lanka but the transfer was reversed because the hackers misspelled the name of the firm. It was this mistake that eventually led to their doom, raising a red flag at the routing bank.
Get a daily dose of China National News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to China National News.
More InformationTOKYO, Japan: Japanese Prime minister Fumio Kishida said this week that it was "now or never" for Japan, one of ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: As part of its efforts to simplify the national COVID-19 vaccine strategy, the US Food and Drug Administration ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: US authorities said this week that a surge in Cubans and Nicaraguans arriving at the US border with ...
OTTAWA, Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government plans to implement its long-awaited workforce transition bill, the "Just Transition," ...
TOKYO, Japan: The Yomiuri newspaper has reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to visit Kyiv in February ...
HONOLULU, Hawaii: The casket bearing Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, long considered the last Hawaiian princess, has gone on public viewing ...
TOKYO, Japan: Japanese Prime minister Fumio Kishida said this week that it was "now or never" for Japan, one of ...
BANGKOK, Thailand: Following China's reopening and the end of its strict COVID-19 restrictions, businesses on Thailand's holiday island of Phuket ...
SEOUL, South Korea: Korea Customs Service data released this week showed that South Korean exports for the first 20 days ...
TOKYO, Japan: The Yomiuri newspaper has reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to visit Kyiv in February ...
LENNOX HEAD, Australia - An Irish father died in Australia while trying to save his daughter after she was swept ...
TOKYO, Japan: More than half of major Japanese companies are planning to raise wages this year, after Prime Minister Fumio ...