How secure is Nepal’s banking system?


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How secure is Nepal’s banking system?

The news of hackers siphoning off $13.5 million by hacking the core banking system of India’s Cosmos Bank based in Pune and simultaneously making withdrawals across 28 countries in August last year had made the headlines.

Chinese hackers had used the similar modus operandi on Saturday afternoon as they tried to steal millions of rupees from several ATMs in Kathmandu using malware attacks. The incident has brought to the fore glaring concerns related to the security of Nepal’s banking system. 

What happened on Saturday?

During the malware attack, a proxy switch was created and all the fake payment
approvals were passed by the proxy switching system. The hackers used electronic cards of at least six banks — NIC Asia, Siddhartha, Janata, Global IME, Prabhu and Sunrise — and used them at ATMs of three banks — Nabil, Nepal Investment and Nepal SBI — to illegally withdraw the money in Nepal.

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