The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it issued a routine alert to local banks in the wake of a reported cyber attack at Bank Negara Malaysia where cyber thieves tried to steal money through fraudulent wire transfers.
Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said in a statement over the weekend the alert was just “a routine alert in light of an incident reported by BNM” or the central bank of Malaysia.
“Let’s not get too excited please. It’s just a routine alert in light of an incident reported by BNM. No specific threat received on the Philippines. Just being careful,” Espenilla said in a statement.
Bank Negara Malaysia was quoted as saying that no funds were lost in the incident, which was detected Tuesday, and involved falsified wire-transfer requests over the Swift bank messaging network, the latest in a series of electronic heists at financial institutions around the world.
BNM did not identify the individuals behind the incident, adding “there was no disruption to other payment and settlement systems the central bank operates because of the cyber attack.”
Espenilla said during his appointment as the successor to former governor Amando Tetangco Jr. that one of his priorities as the chief of the BSP was to strengthen the domestic financial system especially after it was rocked by the $81-million money laundering incident in February 2016.
Investigations showed that cyber thieves stole $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank and wired to some fictitious accounts at the Jupiter Makati branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
RCBC was later fined P1 billion for its involvement in the incident, the biggest pernalty ever imposed by the BSP.
Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said the regulator would continue to pursue reforms that were geared towards achieving a more dynamic banking system and was ready to embrace the digital transformation of the system and responsive to the developmental needs of the economy.
Fonacier said a series of IT regulations were issued as a part of the strategy to strengthen the cyber posture of the Philippine banking system.