A significant cyber attack took place recently against the International Monetary Fund's computers, according to unnamed officials cited Saturday by The New York Times.
The hackers who breached the crisis lender's technology were believed to be connected to an unnamed government, Bloomberg News reported, citing a security expert familiar with the situation. The data taken included emails, dpa reported.
The attack constituted a "a very major breach," one IMF official told The New York Times.
"The Fund is fully functional," IMF spokesman David Hawley said Saturday in an e-mailed statement. "We are investigating an incident. I am not in a position to elaborate further on the extent of the cyber-security incident."
IMF staff and board members were informed on Wednesday about an incident of still unknown ramifications, but no public statement was made.
The breach is believed to have occurred before last month's arrest and resignation of managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn following an alleged May 14 sexual assault. The IMF is in the midst of a search process to choose a new chief.
The IMF, which helps governments manage economic and budget crises, holds confidential financial information from many countries.
A sister agency, the World Bank, cut its computer links to the IMF in response to the cyber attack, the Times reported.