A Russian online cyber security firm, Kaspersky, Thursday, alleged that North Korean hackers are allegedly attacking banks in Nigeria and 18 other countries. The organisation noted in its report that this could be regarded as
the biggest bank heist in world history. Reports said banks and security researchers had previously identified
four similar cyber-heists attempt on financial institutions in Bangladesh, Ecuador, the Philippines and Vietnam. But on Thursday, researchers at Kaspersky said the same hacking
operation, known as “Lazarus”, also attacked financial institutions in
Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia,
Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Uruguay and Nigeria. But the Central Bank of Nigeria has since said it was not aware of the
development. The new report is coming after more than a year-long investigation into the activity of “Lazarus”, the hacking group allegedly responsible for the theft of $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh last year. The claims that North Korea could have been behind the attack has
added to concerns that the country is becoming bolder in its cyber attacks against global financial institutions. CNN reports that North Korea’s mysterious Lazarus hacking operation
has been blamed for several large international cyber attacks in
recent years.