The report, "Bangladesh bank hack attack: SWIFT compromised, alarms raised" (April 26), is a grave reminder of the risks of digital banking. Carrying out banking transactions through digital channels requires only a set of log-in IDs and passwords. Even top bank executives, when they are busy, tend to let subordinates know their passwords.
The remittance orders coming from the Bangladesh Central Bank were never doubted as they appeared to be usual transactions. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBN) can't be faulted since the remittances were from a country's central bank. The FRBN authorities must be complimented for blocking fraudulent transactions worth $870 million.
The Bangladesh fraud is a warning to banks in India to fix their security systems. Despite the checks and counter-checks, the technical staff of banks tends to take cyber systems lightly. When a fraud is reported, the management alerts them on the possible misuse of the system, but afterwards it is back to business as usual.
K V Rao Bengaluru
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