Bangladesh Prevents Cyber-Heist of North Korean Hackers

News Desk

Bangladesh has blocked a bid to steal money from banks through cyber-attacks by a North Korean group of hackers called the “BeagleBoyz”, says the head of the government’s Computer Incident Response Team or CIRT. “There is nothing to be afraid of now. The danger is over,” said Tarique M Barkaullah, who directs the CIRT. The attackers mainly targeted the banks through the ISP networks. One of the three networks where the malware was found is FAST Cash 2.0. The hackers tried to upload some files containing malware with a primary target to detect Point of Sales and ATM transactions and amounts of money stored in the ATMs.

It has caused panic among the bankers. The bankers, however, were still being cautious, with online and ATM transactions suspended during night time in many of the banks after they received the central bank’s warning on Aug 27. The banks put in place safeguards on their own following the warning.

Malware of “BeagleBoyz” had been found in three internet networks in Bangladesh. The US had recently alerted the banks around the world that the North Korean hackers were trying to steal money through transfers and cash withdrawals from ATMs. Bangladesh Bank also warned about the risk of cyber-attacks and asked the banks to execute limited online transactions. The hackers could not steal money from the banks because the bankers took “proper” cautionary steps under the supervision of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.