hackers steal up to $1 billion from banks, security co. says (update)

HomeTechnologySecurityFebruary 15, 2015

Hackers steal up to $1 billion from banks, security co. says (Update)

Feb 15, 2015 by By Mae Anderson

EnlargeCredit: George Hodan/Public Domain

A hacking ring has stolen up to $1 billion from banks around the world in what would be one of the biggest banking breaches known, acybersecurity firm says in a report scheduled to be delivered Monday.

Hackers steal up to $1 billion from banks, security co. says (Update) http://phys.org/news/2015-02-hackers-billion-banks.html

1 of 13 17-02-15 08:35

The hackers have been active since at least the end of 2013 and infiltrated more than 100 banks in 30 countries, according to Russiansecurity company Kaspersky Lab.

After gaining access to banks' computers through phishing schemes and other methods, they lurk for months to learn the banks' systems,taking screen shots and even video of employees using their computers, the company says.

Once the hackers become familiar with the banks' operations, they use that knowledge to steal money without raising suspicions,programming ATMs to dispense money at specific times or setting up fake accounts and transferring money into them, according toKaspersky. The report is set to be presented Monday at a security conference in Cancun, Mexico. It was first reported by The New YorkTimes.

The hackers seem to limit their theft to about $10 million before moving on to another bank, part of the reason why the fraud was notdetected earlier, Kaspersky principal security researcher Vicente Diaz said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The attacks are unusual because they target the banks themselves rather than customers and their account information, Diaz said.

The goal seems to be financial gain rather than espionage, he said.

"In this case they are not interested in information. They're only interested in the money," he said. "They're flexible and quite aggressiveand use any tool they find useful for doing whatever they want to do."

Most of the targets have been in Russia, the U.S., Germany, China and Ukraine, although the attackers may be expanding throughoutAsia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, Kaspersky says. In one case, a bank lost $7.3 million through ATM fraud. In another case, afinancial institution lost $10 million by the attackers exploiting its online banking platform.

Kaspersky did not identify the banks and is still working with law-enforcement agencies to investigate the attacks, which the companysays are ongoing.

The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a nonprofit that alerts banks about hacking activity, said in a statementthat its members received a briefing about the report in January.

"We cannot comment on individual actions our members have taken, but on balance we believe our members are taking appropriateactions to prevent and detect these kinds of attacks and minimize any effects on their customers," the organization said in a statement.


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"The report that Russian banks were the primary victims of these attacks may be a significant change in targeting strategy by Russian-speaking cybercriminals."

The White House is putting an increasing focus on cybersecurity in the wake of numerous data breaches of companies ranging from massretailers like Target and Home Depot to Sony Pictures Entertainment and health insurer Anthem.

The administration wants Congress to replace the existing patchwork of state laws with a national standard giving companies 30 days tonotify consumers if their personal information has been compromised.

Explore further: Over 100 banks hit by sophisticated cyberattack: report

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User comments : 30

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Newbeak

1 / 5 (1) Feb 15, 2015$1 Billion is chump change to banks,a cost of doing business. At least they make good on any funds purloined from your checkingaccount..

Baseline


8 of 13 17-02-15 08:35

not rated yet 18 hours agoGive them 30 days to notify their customers that their information is compromised? By then all your money could be gone and thousandscharged to credit lines.

indio007

not rated yet 12 hours ago

$1 Billion is chump change to banks,a cost of doing business. At least they make good on any funds purloined from yourchecking account..

Especially when the "money" is created by keystroke.

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hackers steal up to $1 billion from banks, security co. says (update)

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