FBI, Secret Service to probe reported Cyber Attacks on JP Morgan, Other Banks

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday said that the agency is probing against the reported cyber attacks on several financial institutions including JP Morgan.

The federal probing agency is working with the Secret Service to determine the ‘scope’ of reported attacks, a FBI spokesperson said.

“Combating cyber threats is a top priority for the government and the FBI is constantly working with the American companies to fight attacks,” FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said in an email.

According to a Bloomberg report published on Wednesday, some Russian hackers had attacked JPMorgan Chase and another bank earlier this month.  A following report published in the New York Times said the cyber attacks had hit the network of JPMorgan Chase and four other American financial institutions.

In the security breach, “gigabytes” of confidential financial information including customer account data, usernames and passwords were stolen, The Times report said.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase has not confirmed the cyber attacks.

A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson said “big companies like ours unfortunately experience cyber attacks nearly on daily basis. But we have sound security system. Our multiple layers of defense counteract any security threats and constantly monitor fraud levels.”

According to media reports, the series of cyber attacks on American companies, including the technology and financial ones, could be in retaliation of the sanctions imposed by the US against Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

“One of the attacks was executed via a zero-day vulnerability in one of the bank’s websites. A zero-day flaw is one that attackers are exploiting but for which there is no fix,” Bloomberg wrote while quoting an anonymous source.

Meanwhile, other American banks which have been on constant target of the hackers, including Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, could not be reached for comment.