WASHINGTON, DC: It’s a big story that has stayed beneath the radar of most American media. Somehow, cyber criminals stole $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank (its Federal Reserve). The theft surely qualifies as one of the biggest cyber heists ever. It’s also a reminder that the world’s financial systems remain vulnerable to cyberattacks from groups or countries more interested in making war — disrupting societies — than money.

Still, money is the big draw. “The financial system is the primary target of the most sophisticated cyber criminals,” says James Lewis, a cyber expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank. “This is where the biggest payoffs are. Banks are under constant siege [from hackers].”

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