The Bangladeshi Bank heist has come and gone, and in response, The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has announced plans to release an updated security plan in an effort to rebuild its reputation. The five-point plan will be designed specifically to combat the style of attack carried out not only in the Bangladeshi heist in February, but the attack in Ecuador on the Banco del Austro that resulted in a loss of $12 million as well. SWIFT’s chief executive Gottfried Leibbrandt believes that “There will be a before and an after Bangladesh. The Bangladesh fraud is not an isolated incident … this is a big deal. And it gets to the heart of banking.” Because of the magnitude of the break-in Leibbrandt emphasizes the importance of shoring up defenses while the opportunity is available, and that SWIFT wants banks to “drastically” improve information sharing to help prevent a breach of the same kind in the future. SWIFT is not all-powerful, we are not a regulator and we are not a policeman,” Liebbrandt continues to say.
Previous SWIFT chief executive Leonard Schrank warned that it seemed to him as though SWIFT could not keep up with increasing criminal capabilities. “They really have to earn that credibility back,” he told Reuters.