IMF email accounts hacked – cyberattack infiltrates financial institution’s security

TLDR:

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed a cyber incident after 11 email accounts were breached earlier this year.
• The IMF is conducting an investigation to assess the impact of the attack and has found no evidence of access to other systems.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently disclosed a cyber incident where 11 IMF email accounts were compromised by unknown attackers. The breach was detected in February, and the IMF is currently investigating the incident’s impact. The organization, which is funded by 190 member countries and is a major United Nations financial agency, has confirmed that the breached email accounts have been re-secured and there is no indication of further compromise at this point. The IMF uses the Microsoft 365 cloud-based email platform.

In the past, the IMF has faced security breaches, including a major breach in 2011 that led to the severance of connections between the IMF and the World Bank’s networks. The recent breach raises concerns about cybersecurity and the protection of sensitive financial information. The IMF is working with independent cybersecurity experts to investigate the breach further and take necessary remediation actions.

This incident comes amidst a wave of cyberattacks targeting major organizations, including the recent breaches involving Microsoft’s corporate emails by Russian hacking groups. While the connection between these incidents remains unclear, cybersecurity threats continue to pose significant risks to global institutions like the IMF.