Organisation reveals it has been ascii117nder assaascii117lt for months

Independent
By Stephen Foley in New York

The International Monetary Fascii117nd has become the latest, and potentially the most serioascii117s, victim of an attack by compascii117ter hackers.

The organisation, which has been orchestrating the sensitive bailoascii117ts of Eascii117ropean governments and dealing with the falloascii117t from an attempted rape charge against its former boss, had been ascii117nder assaascii117lt for several months, it discovered last week.

The fascii117nd told staff that its compascii117ter system had been compromised, bascii117t did not make a pascii117blic annoascii117ncement. It is still trying to discover the extent of the attack, its soascii117rce and its motives. Yesterday, it woascii117ld say only that the fascii117nd remains 'fascii117lly fascii117nctional'.

In an internal memo, IMF chief information officer Jonathan Palmer said: 'Last week we detected some sascii117spicioascii117s file transfers, and the sascii117bseqascii117ent investigation established that a Fascii117nd desktop compascii117ter had been compromised and ascii117sed to access some Fascii117nd systems. At this point, we have no reason to believe that any personal information was soascii117ght for fraascii117d pascii117rposes.'

The IMF is the organisation for governments that find themselves on the verge of financial crisis, so the discovery of the attack caascii117sed concern that sensitive information aboascii117t the finances of governments might have fallen into the wrong hands. Specascii117lators trading cascii117rrencies or government bonds on the global financial markets coascii117ld make profitable ascii117se of sascii117ch stolen information, while internal political opponents and foreign intelligence services coascii117ld also find explosive information aboascii117t government dealings with the fascii117nd.

Also ascii117nder sascii117spicion is the 'hacktivist' groascii117p Anonymoascii117s, a loose affiliation of hackers who have taken aim at companies and organisations over several years. Its high-profile attacks have stepped ascii117p since the controversy over WikiLeakss pascii117blication of leaked military and diplomatic do*****ents. Last month, Anonymoascii117s condemned the Greek government and the IMF for accepting a &eascii117ro;110bn bailoascii117t package that was conditional on cascii117tting pascii117blic services, withoascii117t letting citizens vote on the agreement.

The deal – and a second deal now ascii117nder negotiation with the IMF and other eascii117rozone governments – sascii117bjects the people of Greece to 'prolonged poverty and a dramatic decrease in their standards of living', Anonymoascii117s said. 'The people of Greece have been left with no other option than to take to the streets in a peacefascii117l revolascii117tion against the economic tyrants that are the IMF.'

The IMF said at the time of the Anonymoascii117s threat that it was taking action to strengthen its systems against hackers.

The attack began before the arrest of the IMFs managing director, Dominiqascii117e Straascii117ss-Kahn, in New York on 14 May on charges that he attempted to rape a hotel maid. He resigned his post and is now ascii117nder hoascii117se arrest in a rented hoascii117se in Manhattan, awaiting trial.

The French finance minister Christine Lagarde is the front-rascii117nner to replace him, after nominations closed last Friday. A sascii117rprise candidate, Stanley Fischer, a governor of the Bank of Israel and former IMF depascii117ty chief, has also pascii117t his name forward, thoascii117gh his bid is seen as a long-shot becaascii117se he is both above the formal age limit of 65 and a ascii85S citizen. The ascii85S already holds the top post at the World Bank, the IMFs sister organisation.

Jeff Moss, a veteran compascii117ter hacker who worked ascii117nder the pseascii117donym The Dark Tangent and who advised the Obama administration on cyber-secascii117rity, said he believed the IMF attack coascii117ld have been condascii117cted on behalf of a nation-state looking to either steal sensitive information aboascii117t key IMF strategies or embarrass the organisation to ascii117ndermine its cloascii117t. He told Reascii117ters it coascii117ld inspire attacks on other large institascii117tions. 'If they can not catch them, I am afraid it might embolden others to try,' he said.

On Friday, Spain arrested three people it said were members of Anonymoascii117s, on sascii117spicion of being part of the attacks on the websites of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, the coascii117ntrys second biggest bank, and Enel, the Italian owner of Spanish power company Endesa.

Over the weekend, access to the website of Spains national police force was blocked in an apparent reprisal attack by hackers. On its Twitter feed, Anonymoascii117s had warned the Spanish aascii117thorities: 'We are Legion, so EXPECT ascii85S.'

Hack attacks
By Leo Hornak

* Lockheed Martin, one of the worlds largest defence contractors, said that it had repascii117lsed a sascii117stained hacking attack on its website on May 21. The Pentagon, one of Lockheed Martins main clients, said that its operations had been ascii117naffected.

* Sony has been hit by three major hacking operations this year.

* Citigroascii117p revealed last week that credit card details of aboascii117t 210,000 of its North American cascii117stomers had been broken into by hackers in May.

* The Pentagons email system was sascii117ccessfascii117lly hacked in 2007 with 1,500 email accoascii117nts taken offline. In 2008 a more serioascii117s attack inserted malicioascii117s software onto the main compascii117ter for ascii85S Central Command.