Reports that Russian hackers have allegedly attacked JPMorgan Chase & Co. and at least four other financial institutions this month in a planned attack that led to the loss of an unknown number of gigabytes containing personal customer data.
According to two of the people linked to the investigation, who did not reveal their identities, at least one of the banks has discovered that the breach originated from Russian state-sponsored hackers. FBI Investigators are now trying to determine whether or not the attack could have been in retaliation to the United States imposing sanctions on Moscow.
Officials say the cyber infiltration resulted in the theft of account information, which could possibly later drain those funds. There are two other important pieces of information: hackers obtained important information from employee computers and the hackers may have also attacked European banks.
Security and technology experts are befuddled by the hacking because usually cyber criminals breach retailers and consumers’ computers but never banks due to the fact that they have installed intricate firewalls and security apparatuses.
One source confirmed that the institution regularly contacts law enforcement agencies to report suspicious activity in its systems.
Trish Wexler, spokesperson for JPMorgan, which is the largest bank in the U.S. in terms of assets held, told the Associated Press that the bank has now installed additional safeguards to protect sensitive and classified information.
“Companies of our size unfortunately experience cyber attacks nearly every day,” the bank said in a statement issued to Reuters. “We have multiple, layers of defense to counteract any threats and constantly monitor fraud levels.”
JPMorgan spends approximately $200 million annually in cyber defense, according to a letter to shareholders penned by CEO Jamie Dimon. He projects that the number will increase over the next several years as cyber attacks will heighten.
In a statement released by the FBI, the organization noted that it is regularly fighting cyber threats and these culprits are the top priority for the federal government. It added that it is always partnering with American businesses to ensure they have sufficient security systems and their personal data cannot be stolen.
“We are working with the United States Secret Service to determine the scope of recently reported cyber attacks against several American financial institutions,” said FBI spokesperson J. Peter Donald in New York in an interview with Agence-France Presse (AFP). “Combating cyber threats and criminals remains a top priority for the United States Government, and we are constantly working with American companies to fight cyber attacks.”
Cyber security industry professionals say that attacks on the U.S. financial sector have increased substantially over the past several months, especially from Russia and Eastern Europe. Most concur that it is likely related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which has led to the Western countries and the European Union to establish tough sanctions that would act as a deterrent to the Russian government. However, Moscow has already announced that it has imposed sanctions on several countries in the West and it’s working on more dire sanctions.
