The International Monetary Fund (IMF) emphasized that top managers’ email accounts were unaffected in its statement on Friday, even as it stated it was still looking into a cyber security breach that was initially discovered on February 16.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s and other high-ranking officials’ email accounts were not among the 11 IMF email accounts that were compromised in the incident, according to a spokesman for the international institution. Since then, all email accounts have been re-secured, according to a statement from the IMF.
“The MD and her top leadership team were not targeted,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
“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.
