Hackers targeting banks in 18 countries, including Nigeria

A report by Russian cyber security firm, Kaspersky claims that a cyber security firm backed by the government of North Korea were targeting financial institutions in 18 countries including Nigeria.

Two international security experts, according to the hacking claims by the CNN, believe North Korea is likely spending the stolen funds on its nuclear weapons programme.

“Banks and security researchers have previously identified four similar cyber-heists attempted on financial institutions in Bangladesh, Ecuador, the Philippines and Vietnam,” the report read in part.

“But researchers at Kaspersky now say the same hacking operation, known as ‘Lazarus’, also attacked financial institutions in Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay.”

The United Press International also reported that the hackers were traced to North Korea after Kaspersky detected a mistake, and a hacker from a group operation known as Lazarus connected from North Korea.

Reports say the hackers had previously routed their attacks from computer services in France, South Korea and Taiwan, a move which made it difficult for security experts to identify the origin of the breaches.