Russian Authorities Allegedly Nab BoA, JPMorgan Hackers

Three months ago, Russian authorities staged raids on a Moscow film production and distribution company, tied to an effort to shutter what Reuters reported Saturday (Feb. 6) stands as “one of the world’s most notorious financial hacking operations.”

The newswire said the information came from three sources, unnamed in the article, with knowledge of the events, and the raid would stand as the country’s strongest effort to confront cybercrime.

[bctt tweet=”The raid would stand as the country’s strongest effort to confront cybercrime.”]

One bit of evidence that the crackdown was a success: Reuters reported that Dyre — a malicious program that steals passwords and has caused millions of dollars of losses at a variety of financial institutions, including juggernauts such as Bank of America and JPMorgan — has not been active since the time of the raid. The software was able to manipulate communications between financial institution customers.

A number of entities ostensibly involved in the raid, ranging from the FSB, Russia’s intelligence service, and the CEO of the film company, known as 25th Floor, offered no comment. Reuters itself noted that it could not establish a “direct link” between the raid and Dyre’s dormant state. And in a nod to the physical location of the Russian raid itself, sources told Reuters that the actions took place at 25th Floor and a neighboring office.

Reuters said the ongoing Dyre investigation is being conducted alongside contributions by Kaspersky Lab; the lab would unveil some details about the case at its annual user conference beginning this week, citing a “person close to the company.”

The newswire also reported that the film company is in the middle of making a film that is being billed as a “cybercrime thriller,” based on a 2010 hacking case where 37 people in the United States and abroad were snared in a multimillion dollar scam.