Banco de México said 80% of banking transactions are operating normally within its payment system following the cyberattacks that occurred in late April and early May, as the central bank works to normalize operations and strengthen its defenses against hackers, El Financiero reported.
The remaining 20% of transactions from the "most vulnerable institutions" were being channeled through alternative mechanisms, Banxico governor Alejandro Díaz de León said, adding that the interbank payment system, known as SPEI, was fully operational.
"The attack that we saw was of a technological and logistical sophistication, we are taking measures to normalize all operations," Díaz de León reportedly said.
The central bank has formed an information security task force in the wake of multiple cyberattacks on the financial system, including one as recently as May 8. All of the attacks involved the SPEI system.
On May 24, Banxico said 48 financial sector participants had migrated to an alternative SPEI connection system. The regulator has set new guidelines for financial institutions using the system, including setting restrictions on the amounts, timing and delivery of SPEI transactions.
Earlier reports said hackers may have stolen up to about 400 million Mexican pesos in the attacks, where money was illegally siphoned using fake accounts.
As of May 30, US$1 was equivalent to 19.74 Mexican pesos.
