Second SWIFT Network Breach Shows Need For Distributed Ledgers
While some financial experts feel it is still too early something as significant as distributed ledgers, the question becomes how much longer they can afford to hold off on this inevitable change. The second SWIFT hack sheds an interesting light on permissioned systems and cybersecurity. Although no data has been hacked, the loss of money could have been prevented by using more modern technology, such as distributed ledgers as the one found in Bitcoin. Distributed Ledgers Vs. Archaic Centralized Systems. While it is commendable SWIFT representatives openly admit their network played a part....
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Swift seemingly has an ace up their sleeve to one-up blockchain-based projects. Financial infrastructure is on the brink of being disrupted by new technologies. Mainly blockchain technology is one of the contenders to disrupt the financial sector as we know it. Swift, one of the world’s leading money transfer protocols, will make sure they are not replaced by distributed ledgers. A very bold statement that will require a lot more than just strong words. The vast majority of international interbank messages and transfers takes place on the Swift network. Even though the group operating this....
Will the blockchain replace SWIFT? No fringe concept, the question has long been openly asked by innovators in the blockchain industry as well as FinTech professionals due to the potential of the technology to replace financial intermediaries. As the "global backbone of the financial industry", this is notably one of the core functions that SWIFT today serves. Accordingly, the question of how SWIFT would respond to this potential threat gained new definition this week with the news that the financial messaging services provider is working to build its own distributed ledger....
A new report from SWIFT details the settlement network operator's plan to develop a distributed ledger application platform. The 20-page report, which was the result of research and development between SWIFT and professional services firm Accenture, includes new details on SWIFT’s proofs-of-concept focused on the technology. These include how it working on transaction settlement and identity management concepts that incorporate blockchain elements. Notably, the paper outlines SWIFT's intention to create "a distinctive [distributed ledger technology] DLT platform"....
The Swift payment network breaches have been making media headlines for several weeks now. But it appears more than three banks may have been breached, as researchers are investigating 12 similar incidents. Although nothing has been confirmed yet, this news does not bode well for the financial ecosystem. A lot of people were concerned about Swift when it became clear more than one bank lost funds due to a breach. To make matters even worse, the scope of these attacks may be much broader than anticipated. FireEye researchers are investigating a dozen incidents involved computer breaches....
It will take several months, if not years, before all of the details regarding this Swift heist see the light of day. The story regarding the Bangladesh bank heist as part of an attack on the Swift payment network is far from over. As it turns out, the Federal Reserve blocked all 35 transactions executed by unknown assailants in February of 2016. However, four of those transfers got through after a second attempt, despite still being labeled as suspicious. Anonymous sources told Reuters how the Federal Reserve was intervening when the Bank of Bangladesh was dealing with a security breach.....