IMF hit by cyber attack
Posted June 11, 2011 7:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Less than a month after losing its director to an alleged sexual assault scandal, the International Monetary Fund is dealing with another public relations problem after hackers apparently infiltrated the organization’s computers.
The IMF informed its staff about the problem Wednesday but has released no details. Spokesman David Hawley said the organization is fully functional and wouldn’t discuss the reported attack or whether sensitive data was compromised.
The problem was serious enough to prompt the World Bank to cut off a computer link that allows the two agencies to share non-sensitive information.
This is latest in a string of high-profile hacker attacks over the past few months. Sony Playstation accounts were compromised, as were the networks of Lockheed Martin and the customer email database of the company that does marketing for BestBuy and Target.
Approximately 200,000 Citibank credit card customers across North America had their names, account numbers and email addresses stolen.
And earlier this month Google claimed Chinese hackers targeted Gmail accounts belonging to U.S. officials.
The IMF computer attack comes after former chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned after he was arrested for the alleged attempted rape of a maid at a Manhattan hotel.
With files from the Associated Press.
