18 computer servers at the World Bank Group were hacked into by sophisticated cyber thieves.  Reporter Richard Behar, uncovered the fact that these servers had been hacked in July, but no one was told.  World Bank officials are saying that there is no need for alarm because no sensitive data was taken, but there really is no way to back that claim up. 

If these cyber thieves were clever enough to get into their servers, they could have very well seen everything, left a little something to let them back in, and no one would be the wiser. 

"The sophistication, resolve and organization of cybercriminals are growing exponentially," says Tom Kellerman, vice president of security awareness at Core Security Technologies. 

Kellerman served as a senior risk-management specialist at the World Bank from 2000 to 2006; he helped set up the bank's cyberdefenses. "Every financial organization is under siege," he says.

World Bank spokesman Carl Hanlon confirmed the authenticity of bank memos obtained by Behar describing how bank officials discovered — and reacted to — the cyberbreak-in. "The bottom line is that at no point was any sensitive information accessed," Hanlon said in a phone interview. 

That assertion drew skepticism in tech-security circles. Several security experts noted that cyberthieves are experts at stealing data without leaving a trace. "It's not like when you steal the Mona Lisa and there's a blank space left on the wall," says Sophos researcher Graham Cluley.

This is a very deep story that will get bigger as the days go by.  

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