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How safe is the bank you use?

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  • 17-08-2019 6:37pm
    #1
    Impetus
    Registered Users Posts: 1,667 ✭✭✭


    Bank of Valletta (BoV) was hacked last year. The hacker, reading between the lines, might have been North Korea, or agents thereof. The country has been a victim of US and other sanctions for some time. Presumably they have no source of foreign currency, to speak of. Yet Kim has gone to school in Switzerland and is driven around in a fleet of Maybachs. Some 13 million EUR was stolen from BoV in the hack. How many political leaders have had the benefit of a Swiss education, outside of Switzerland, I ask myself...

    Not that internet servers were the apparent risk in the BoV case, BoV used to get horrible ratings on 'SSL Labs' security tests. They now get an overall A rating at https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=bov.com&s=104.17.63.33&latest (despite the 'authority it uses for its TLS certificate).

    By comparison BoI gets a 'B' and does not support TLS 1.3.
    https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.bankofireland.com

    AIB gets an 'A' https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=aib.ie
    but does not support TLS 1.3.

    And Ulster Bank (which appears to be dominated by the RBS platform) gets a C rating. https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=ulsterbank.ie

    About 10 million has been ‘tracked down’ according to BoV. The hackers drained BoV and sent the stolen funds to banks various in GB, US, Czechia and Hong Kong. It appears from media reports that North Korea has generated 2 bn USD from computer hacking of banks and money transmission systems. A British newspaper puts Kim’s spend on premium goods at USD 4bn since coming to power. Most of this product originated in Europe or Japan.

    North Korea has a population of about 25 million with a GDP per capita of USD 1'400 each. Perhaps 'western' sanctions are a driving force behind hacking attempts? And this applies to not just North Korea.

    As the world economies move away from paper money, the more vulnerable they become to cyber financial meltdown.


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