Sony, Google, the FBI, Lockheed Martin, Citigroup, and now the International Monetary Fund (IM) -- the tentacles of cyber criminals are not sparing any big ticket organisation in the world.

The IMF has revealed that it has become the latest high profile cyber attack victim. IMF spokesman David Hawley said there was 'an incident' and that the Fund is investigating while it remains completely functional.

The IMF has been a target of hackers, especially in recent years since the outbreak of the financial crisis. It also has been on high alert for possible incursions into its database that keeps sensitive economic information about its 187 member countries.

The Fund hasn’t provided any detail regarding the latest cyber attack, but experts have said the latest one is a very sophisticated attack. The infiltration might have involved significant reconnaissance prior to the attack, and code may have been written specifically to penetrate the the Fund, according to a former cybersecurity specialist at the World Bank.

This isn't malware you've seen before, Tom Kellermann told the Wall Street Journal. He said the hackers might have designed the attack to gain market-moving insider information.

Some data in its computer systems could conceivably be used to influence or trade currencies, bonds and other financial instruments in markets around the world, WSJ said.

Following the attack the World Bank severed it network link with the Fund.

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