A Mysterious Hacker Group May Have Taken The Letters Of The Budapest Russian Spy Bank There Is A Complete News Blackout In The Orbán Government

We know that among the documents published by the hacker group with a mysterious background, there is also an outline that discusses how the exposure to sanctions resulting from the Russian partial ownership of IIB could be solved by involving Serbia and increasing Hungary's share A hacker group called Karma_Byt3s undertook the attack on the mail server of the Budapest-based International Investment Bank (IIB), which is mainly owned by Russians and Hungarians, according to an article on the security policy portal Cyber ​​Threat Report.

As we reported, recently unknown persons hacked the bank's correspondence and obtained a large number of internal documents, which were published on the Internet and distributed to journalists IIB Bank's statement also confirmed that a burglary took place on February 17, however, according to them, the published e-mail exchange is "fake".

Upon our inquiry, they did not tell us that the leaked correspondence was partially or completely false, and they did not answer our other questions There is also a complete news blackout in the Hungarian state apparatus, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the police do not comment on the case either.

According to the Cyber ​​Threat Report portal, the hackers had access to more than just the IIB's correspondence According to the magazine, the hacker group Karma_Byt3s was unknown until now.

The group's Telegram channel was only created on February 10 and its only "target" was the IIB Our newspaper knows that among the published messages is a document discussing the bank's financial situation, as well as an internal document outlining the possible and future involvement of the Hungarian government in IIB.

The timing of the hacker attack is telling: it happened on the very day when, after several other countries, the traditionally pro-Russian Bulgaria also announced that it would withdraw from the IIB from August Slovakia and the Czech Republic have already left, and Romania will leave the bank in the summer.

Thus, Hungary, which provided the company headquarters, remained the only European Union member of the IIB After Bulgaria had a 14.

46 percent stake, the Russian share in the bank increased to 45 44 percent with the decision.

The second largest owner is Hungary with 25 27 percent.

Part-owners include Cuba with a 2 83 percent share, Mongolia with a 1.

8 percent share, and Vietnam with a 1 26 percent share.

We know that among the documents published by the hacker group with a mysterious background is an outline that states that by involving Serbia and increasing Hungary's share, how to solve IIB's exposure to sanctions arising from Russian partial ownership The former KGST bank, IIB, which was revived by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2012, has long been a thorn in the side of Hungary's NATO allies.

The bank is mostly seen as a Trojan horse of Putin's Russia, a financial instrument through which Krem reaches the West and the can finance its friendly government allies The bank has always denied this, saying that so far no suspicion of secret service activity has ever arisen in connection with any of its employees.

At the same time, the fact that the head of the IIB, Nikolai Kosov, comes from an old intelligence family does not dispel concerns His parents were high-ranking intelligence officers who were also stationed in Hungary at the same time, his father was involved in Soviet intelligence operations after the suppression of the 1956 revolution.

Despite all this, the pro-Russian Orbán government helped the bank settle in Budapest on extremely fair terms It granted its members diplomatic immunity.

According to our newspaper, only the opposition of American diplomacy prevented the IIB from being placed next to the American embassy Finally, in 2021, they acquired Lánchíd Palace, considered the capital's most valuable property, as their headquarters.

It is characteristic of the IIB's special situation that it is not even controlled by the Hungarian National Bank, which performs the task of financial supervision In a letter to our newspaper, the MNB reiterated its previous position: the IIB - based on the law applicable to it - only operates in a narrow, specialized area in Hungary.

"It is not an integral part of the domestic banking market, among other things, it does not have a domestic residential or small business clientele, and it does not collect deposits from them " However, it is not known how big the bank's Hungarian corporate clientele is.

"IIB's size and activity are thus small compared to the Hungarian banking market as a whole Developments related to the credit institution can therefore have at most a minimal impact on the domestic money and capital markets," the MNB described the situation.

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