BSP Gov. Nestor Espenilla Jr.
Hackers who tried to steal from Malaysia’s central bank earlier in the week apparently did not plan to transfer any funds they might have stolen to the Philippines as those who broke into Bangladesh Bank had done two years ago, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Nestor Espenilla Jr.
Bank Negara Malaysia informed the BSP on Wednesday that it foiled a major cyberheist attempt a day earlier, prompting Espenilla to put the Philippines’ financial system on heightened alert against laundered cash as the country began its long Lenten holiday.
Espenilla said he alerted the Bankers Association of the Philippines about the hacking attempt, which was reminiscent of the theft of $1 billion from the Bangladeshi central bank in 2016, of which $81 million found its way into a Philippine bank.
Int’l cooperation protocol
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“The Bank Negara just sounded a general alert to the central banking community,” he said. “In turn we alerted our own banking community. These are all in line with our international cooperation protocol,” Espenilla said.
He said preliminary reports showed no indication that the hackers would have laundered any stolen funds in the Philippines had they succeeded.
