INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security

Kaspersky experts discovered the incident when the attackers were attempting to find partners to help them conduct additional malicious activity . This sort of scheme has become particularly common over the past few years , wherein different groups are responsible for different stages of an attack .

There are those that initially penetrate the victims ’ systems , those that conduct the actual attack ( e . g . encrypt and steal data ), and those that demand the ransom and manage the financial aspect of the attack .

Kaspersky discovered the data , that was offered by the attackers to third parties as evidence that they had access to the organization . The experts analyzed the stolen data and found out that the attackers were able to gain access to the entire infrastructure of the Latin American central bank , including the systems for international money transfers .

In order to prevent any further malicious activity , Kaspersky promptly notified INTERPOL and the International Payments Framework about the attack . After conducting a joint investigation , all vulnerabilities in the corporate networks of the bank were closed and any opportunities for additional attacks were blocked .

Stephen Kavanagh , Executive Director of INTERPOL Police Services , INTERPOL , said : “ Over the past few years , we ’ ve seen many ransomware attacks carried out by these ‘ hybrid ’ teams . Previously , however , their targets were mainly commercial companies .

“ We are happy that together , with our partner Kaspersky , we were able to prevent an attack that could have affected the region ’ s economy . It is only through effective cooperation on the international level and striving to be ahead of the curve that we will be able to effectively protect the global community .”

Sergey Golovanov , Chief Security Expert at Kaspersky , said : “ We learned that the attackers had found a loophole that allowed them to gain access to the central bank ’ s infrastructure . When countering such attacks , international co-operation coupled with the ability to act quickly is critical .

“ That ’ s why , as soon as we gathered information about how the attackers were operating , we notified INTERPOL . Such wellco-ordinated and precise co-operation made it possible to thwart the attackers before real damage to the organization occurred .” p

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