The FBI is helping the International Monetary Fund investigate a cyber attack on its computer systems.
It is understood the breach was designed to install software which would create a ‘digital insider presence’.
The IMF, which holds sensitive economic data about many countries, said its operations were fully functional.
A cyber security expert who has worked for both the IMF and the World Bank said the intruders' goal had been to install software that would give a nation state a ‘digital insider presence’ on the IMF network.
Such a presence could yield a trove of non-public economic data used by the Fund to promote exchange rate stability, support balanced international trade and provide resources to remedy members' balance-of-payments crises.
‘It was a targeted attack,’ said Tom Kellerman, who has worked for both international financial institutions and who serves on the board of a group known as the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance.
The code used in the IMF incident was developed specifically for the attack on the institution, said Mr Kellerman.
The attack on the IMF was the latest in a rash of cyber break-ins that have targeted high-profile companies and institutions, often to steal secrets with potentially far-reaching economic implications.
The list of victims includes Lockheed Martin Corp, Sony Corp and Citigroup Inc.
IMF spokesman David Hawley said the IMF was ‘fully functional,’ despite the attack.
‘I can confirm that we are investigating an incident,’ he said, adding that he was not in a position to elaborate on the extent of it.
The US Defence Department confirmed that the FBI was helping to investigate the attack.
