Nine More Banks Hit By Cyberthieves That Attacked Chase

Nine financial institutions—above and beyond Chase—were “also infiltrated by the same group” that attacked Chase, a group “thought to be operating from Russia and appear to have at least loose connections with officials of the Russian government,” the New York Times reported.

“It is unclear whether the other intrusions, at banks and brokerage firms, were as deep as the one that JPMorgan disclosed on Thursday. The identities of the other institutions could not be immediately learned,” the story said.

The story also delved into some bank IT personnel issues, indicating that the attacks happened shortly after “a recent turnover within JPMorgan’s information security group.”

“A number of staff members followed Frank Bisignano, JPMorgan’s former co-chief operating officer, to First Data last year. This year, First Data agreed to pay JPMorgan over accusations that by wooing other executives to the payment processor, Mr. Bisignano had violated the terms of his former employment contract. By then, First Data had already hired JPMorgan’s chief information officer, Guy Chiarello; its cybersecurity czar, Anthony Belfiore; its head of compliance, Cindy Armine; and Tom Higgins, JPMorgan’s head of operation control,” the Times story said. “Anish Bhimani, the bank’s chief information risk officer, remained. Last December, JPMorgan hired Dana Deasy as chief information officer from BP. Greg Rattray, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel who specialized in cyberdefense was named the head of information security in June. Challenges quickly followed. That same month, hackers found a way into the bank’s systems.”