Swift banking system gets tighter security after hacks

The international banking system Swift will be more secure. This should prevent hackers from penetrating digitally and siphoning money away, something that has happened more and more in recent times.

At the annual Sibos meeting in Geneva, Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO of Swift, announced that new security measures are being introduced and existing procedures are being reviewed. That reports Reuters news agency. The immediate reason is the increase in the number of hacks at banks, in which burglars sometimes steal tens of millions of euros.

Because hackers are increasingly sophisticated, according to Leibbrandt, this undermines confidence in transactions made via Swift. This is also apparent from a hack by the central bank in Bangladesh in February, in which 81 million dollars, converted about 72 million euros, was funneled away. An analysis revealed that the hack was made possible by a vulnerability in the Swift software. There were also hacks in Ukraine, Ecuador and Vietnam.

Banks also take extra security measures themselves. For example, Reuters reports about the French bank Société Générale, where employees are obliged to identify themselves with a fingerprint scanner in Swift transactions. It is also known that banks are looking at alternative security technologies, such as the blockchain.

Swift has been warning about the dangers of digital bank robbery for some time. Earlier this year, new security procedures were also rolled out, and the company Fox-IT was called in to increase security.