North Korea could be behind spate of cyber attacks on Asian banks, according to digital security analysts.

Private firm Symantec said it had evidence that thieves had either stolen money or attempted to do so from banks in the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh by using the same piece of code that was involved in the Sony Pictures hack in December 2014, the New York Times reported.

The only other time the code has been used was in a series of attacks on banks and media companies in South Korea in 2013 which Washington and Seoul blamed on North Korea – though they did not provide independent verification at the time.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

Symantec said the hackers had managed to steal more than $81m (£55.4m) from the central bank of Bangladesh in February this year and failed to steal $1m (£680,000) from the Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam in December last year.

The attacks have raised alarm bells in the global banking community because it is the first time that thieves have managed to breach Swift, a payment transfer system that is believed to be the most secure in the world.

The system, run by a Brussels-based banking consortium, is currently used by 11,000 banks and companies to move money around the world.

Shape Created with Sketch. Inside the daily life in North Korea Show all 19 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Inside the daily life in North Korea 1/19 People reading a newspaper at the metro station 2/19 Thoughts of the leaders on the tram. They have about a dozen of these on every tram, all with different thoughts 3/19 Young people training for a big upcoming festival 4/19 People at the Pyongyang's annual marathon 5/19 Many stars on one of the trolleys in Pyongyang 6/19 An intimidating poster in a primary school in North Korea. 7/19 Solar panels installed on a street lamp. 8/19 A poster on the window next to one of the venues we visited in Pyongyang 9/19 Kids playing football next to the Arch of Triumph. After a while tourists were allowed to join, so some of us did 10/19 Class in an educational center in Pyongyang (where people over 17 years old can attend any classes they choose after school, for free) 11/19 People waving at me during the Pyongyang marathon 12/19 People having a great time dancing at a public park 13/19 A metro driver in a metro station in Pyongyang 14/19 Fireworks to mark the birthday of the Eternal President Kim Il Sung on our last night in Pyongyang 15/19 My wonderful tour guide at a public park 16/19 One of the parks in Pyongyang 17/19 A person rowing some boats for the day at a river in Pyongyang 18/19 The National War Museum 19/19 Public park in Pyongyang 1/19 People reading a newspaper at the metro station 2/19 Thoughts of the leaders on the tram. They have about a dozen of these on every tram, all with different thoughts 3/19 Young people training for a big upcoming festival 4/19 People at the Pyongyang's annual marathon 5/19 Many stars on one of the trolleys in Pyongyang 6/19 An intimidating poster in a primary school in North Korea. 7/19 Solar panels installed on a street lamp. 8/19 A poster on the window next to one of the venues we visited in Pyongyang 9/19 Kids playing football next to the Arch of Triumph. After a while tourists were allowed to join, so some of us did 10/19 Class in an educational center in Pyongyang (where people over 17 years old can attend any classes they choose after school, for free) 11/19 People waving at me during the Pyongyang marathon 12/19 People having a great time dancing at a public park 13/19 A metro driver in a metro station in Pyongyang 14/19 Fireworks to mark the birthday of the Eternal President Kim Il Sung on our last night in Pyongyang 15/19 My wonderful tour guide at a public park 16/19 One of the parks in Pyongyang 17/19 A person rowing some boats for the day at a river in Pyongyang 18/19 The National War Museum 19/19 Public park in Pyongyang

Swift has publicly warned that the attacks were part of a co-ordinated campaign against banks but did not explicitly blame North Korea.

It also said that connection points to its network had been breached, rather than the system itself.

There have been multiple examples of countries using malware and cyber attacks to hurt their international rivals.

Security researchers have found evidence linking the US and Israel to attacks on Iranian centrifuges and the Chinese military to attacks on foreign intelligence services, but this is the first time a government is believed to have attacked foreign banks purely for financial benefit.

Security researcher Eric Chien told the New York Times: “If you believe North Korea was behind those attacks [on Sony], then the bank attacks were also the work of North Korea.

“We’ve never seen an attack where a nation-state has gone in and stolen money. This is a first.”

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.

Subscribe now