IMF Target Of Cyberattack

A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers at IMF headquarters in Washington (file photo)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is investigating a cyberattack on its computer systems that one fund official reportedly described as a "very major breach."

An IMF spokesman was quoted as saying the "fund is fully functional" and is investigating.

Bloomberg News reported the IMF's computer system was attacked by hackers "believed to be connected to a foreign government, resulting in the loss of e-mails and other documents."

"The New York Times" said the IMF had been hit during the last several months by what computer experts described as a large and sophisticated cyberattack.

The paper noted that the fund "manages financial crises around the world and is the repository of highly confidential information about the fiscal condition of many nations."

The hack was significant enough to have prompted the World Bank, whose Washington headquarters are across the street from the IMF, to have severed a shared computer link between the two organizations, according to "The New York Times."

compiled from Reuters and media reports