Gang posts links to ‘juicy bank information’ from Federal Reserve ‘hack’ on the dark web
A Russia-linked gang threatened to release “juicy banking data” they claimed to have stolen from the Federal Reserve if their demands were not met.
LockBit announced Monday that it had secured 33 terabytes of data from the central bank, giving US officials until Tuesday at 4:27 PM ET to pay an undisclosed amount.
Although the cybercriminals kept their promise by uploading financial information to the dark web, as of mid-June they appeared to have only included links to a Federal Reserve press link. Others link to Evolve Bank and Trust data from a previous hack.
Some experts have speculated that this was just an attempt by LockBit to improve its standing in the hacking community and gain attention.
LockBit announced Monday that it had secured 33 terabytes of data from the central bank, giving US officials until Tuesday at 4:27 PM ET to pay an undisclosed amount.
David Hatter, director of business growth at InTrust IT, told DailyMail.com: ‘Despite previous high-profile attacks, LockBit’s power appears to have been severely diminished and their reputation damaged after a major international law enforcement operation called Cronos seized their ransomware infrastructure. ‘
DailyMail.com has contacted the Federal Reserve for comment.
LockBit revealed that the central bank had become the latest victim in a statement on the dark web, counting down until the supposed stolen data was released.
“Federal banking is the term for the way the United States Federal Reserve distributes its money,” the announcement reads.
The Reserve operates twelve banking districts across the country that oversee the distribution of money within their respective districts.
“The twelve cities where the Reserve Banks are located are Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Dallas, Saint Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City and San Francisco.”
’33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing the banking secrets of Americans. You’d better hire another negotiator within 48 hours and fire this clinical idiot who values US bank secrecy at $50,000.’
For comparison: 6.5 million documents can be stored on one terabyte.
News broke Tuesday afternoon that LockBit had uploaded 21 links to the dark web, but cybersecurity experts who reviewed the data noted that “there is still no sign of ‘secret’ files, but analysis is ongoing.”
At 4:27 PM ET, news broke that LockBit had uploaded 21 links to the dark web
HackManac, a Dubi-based company that analyzes cyber attacks and provides consulting services, posted on , Evolve Bank & Trust, for deficiencies in risk management and AML compliance.”
The press release came from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, announcing action against Evolve.
“Investigations conducted in 2023 found that Evolve engaged in unsafe and unsound banking practices by failing to establish an effective risk management framework for those partnerships,” the press release reads.
“In addition, Evolve did not maintain an effective risk management program or controls sufficient to comply with anti-money laundering and consumer protection laws.”
Every other link on the site leads to folders containing Evolve data.