The well-known hacking group (or individual) called "Shadow Brokers", just leaked a number of Windows vulnerabilities allegedly created to go after old Microsoft computers.
Hacking group Shadow Brokers has released a data dump allegedly stolen from the NSA detailing the agency's ability to hack worldwide banks, including the SWIFT network, via Windows PCs and servers used for global financial transfers.
"Today, Microsoft triaged a large release of exploits made publicly available by Shadow Brokers", Philip Misner, a Microsoft executive in charge of security wrote in a blog post.
The hacks amounted to vulnerabilities in Microsoft software that let intruders take over machines running Windows software.
Suiche recommended users upgrade to Windows 10 and the range of security flaw mitigations the operating system has built in, which do not exist in older versions such as Windows 7.
Microsoft, meanwhile, said it has already patched the vulnerabilities found in the hack.
Microsoft announced Friday that it had already patched the vulnerabilities that were disclosed by the Shadow Brokers last week.
Hacker group Shadow Brokers had leaked out a few too many tools, which allegedly belonged to the NSA, on the dark web. Since, by their own admission, the hacker group has not been paid by anyone to "shutup [sic] and going [sic] away", they have released another cache of tools, this time targeted at Windows systems.
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And although it looked like the end of the world for Windows users, as some experts have called it, Microsoft says there's absolutely no reason to be anxious.
The BBC is not able to verify the authenticity of the files - and the NSA has not commented on the leak.
Although, SWIFT has downplayed the breach saying it's not very significant and it had had no evidence of the main SWIFT network being ever accessed without authorization.
The documents released by the Shadow Brokers indicate that the NSA may have accessed the Swift network through service bureaus.
The Shadow Brokers hacking group claimed in a blog post on Friday that it had obtained files and data that show the agency accessed the SWIFT messaging system.
"The threat is very persistent, adaptive and sophisticated - and it is here to stay", SWIFT said in the November letter to client banks, seen by Reuters.
If legitimate, the files released by Shadow Brokers would be the most significant exposure of NSA files since the leaks in 2013 by former United States intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden.
Via that entry point, the agency appears to have monitored transactions involving several banks and financial institutions in Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Yemen and Qatar.
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