Mexican Banking Exec Still Worried About Cyberattacks

The immediate danger has passed – but the threat is still there.

That was the message on Wednesday (May 30) from Alejandro Diaz de Leon Carrillo, governor of the Bank of Mexico. According to Reuters, he said that “no further cyberattacks on banks had been seen since May 8, but that investigators would need to finish their probe to assure banks’ vulnerabilities have been addressed.”

Earlier in May, the country’s central bank said that criminals had managed to steal about $15.2 million during a cyberattack that involved fraudulent transactions with five companies. “Diaz de Leon said there had been around 800 suspect transactions in amounts from 30,000 pesos (about $1,500) to more than 500,000 pesos (about $25,000),” the report said.

In earlier related news, reports had said that three banks in Mexico were the victims of an attempted cyberattack in late April that aimed to gain access to the country’s electronic payment systems. The attempted hack, which happened on April 27, forced the banks to enact contingency plans, which could have caused delays in money transfers. However, the country’s central bank noted that client money wasn’t affected by the incident.

This spring has brought more bad news about financial institutions in Mexico. This week, Reuters reported that a former partner and part-owner of Mexico’s InvestaBank SA has pleaded guilty to a U.S. charge that he fraudulently obtained $21 million in tax refunds from the Mexican   government.

In a more positive development, however, Amazon made a recent push into the financial market in Mexico, rolling out a debit card for the first time ever. With Mexicans reluctant to shop online, Amazon is hoping to encourage more of it by providing a new way to purchase things.