IMF probes cyber security incident, says no top managers affected

IMF probes cyber security incident, says no top managers affected

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday said it was continuing to investigate a cyber security incident first detected on Feb. 16, but stressed that the email accounts of top managers were not affected.

A spokesperson for the global lender said 11 IMF email accounts had been compromised in the incident, but they did not include those of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva or other top officials. All email accounts have since been re-secured, the IMF said in a statement.

"The MD and her top leadership team were not targeted," the spokesperson told Reuters.

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"The investigation determined that eleven IMF email accounts were compromised," IMF said, adding that those accounts had been re-secured and there was no indication of further compromise.

A decision was made to disclose the incident - the IMF's first since 2011 - given the global lender's commitment to transparency and as a reminder to its staff to ensure strict adherence to cyber security practices, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The IMF said it took remedial actions as a result of the investigation, which was conducted with the help of independent cyber security experts.

"We have no indication of further compromise beyond these email accounts at this point in time. The investigation into this incident is continuing," it said.