Hackers have breached computer networks owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
The attack is suspected to have originated from a Chinese-developed malware and has forced the Australian central bank to hire a private security firm to carry out an authorised hacking of its networks to assess the security of its systems.
RBA said in a statement it has comprehensive security arrangements in place which have isolated these attacks and ensured viruses have not spread across the Bank’s network or systems.
"At no point have these attacks caused the Bank’s data or information to be lost or its systems to be corrupted. The Bank’s IT systems operate safely, securely and with a high degree of resilience," RBA said.
In an earlier attack in 2011 involved a Chinese-developed malware spy programme searching for information related to the G-20 summit, in which China’s exchange rate and currency reserves were major issues to be discussed.
Additionally, RBA said some of its staff, including the executive level, had received ‘malicious’ e-mails on 17 November 2011.
RBA said in its report: "The email had managed to bypass the existing security controls in place for malicious emails by being well written, targeted to specific bank staff and utilised an embedded hyperlink to the virus payload which differs from the usual attack whereby the virus is attached directly to the email."
"Bank assets could have been potentially compromised, leading to service disruption, information loss and reputation," RBA report added.
