A ring of cyber-crooks used an unusual trick to steal up to $1 billion from banks around the world
JOSEPH MENN, REUTERS
BusinessInsider.com
FEB. 15, 2015
A multinational gang of cyber criminals has stolen as much as $1 billion from as many as 100 financial institutions around the world in about two years, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said on Saturday.
The company said it was working with Interpol, Europol and authorities from different countries to try to uncover more details on what it being called an unprecedented robbery.
The gang, which Kaspersky dubbed Carbanak, takes the unusual approach of stealing directly from banks, rather than posing as customers to withdraw money from companies’ or individuals’ accounts. It said the gang included cyber criminals from Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as China.
Carbanak used carefully crafted emails to trick pre-selected employees into opening malicious software files, a common technique known as spear phishing. They were then able to get into the internal network and track down administrators’ computers for video surveillance.
In this way, Kaspersky said, the criminals learned how the bank clerks worked and could mimic their activity when transferring the money.
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