| The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing a computer-security breach targeting Citigroup Inc. that resulted in a theft of tens of millions of dollars by computer hackers who appear linked to a Russian cyber gang. The attack took aim at Citigroup's Citibank subsidiary, which includes its North American retail bank and other businesses. It couldn't be learned whether the thieves gained access to Citibank's systems directly or through third parties. The FBI and the National Security Agency, along with the Department of Homeland Security and Citigroup, swapped information to counter the attack, according to a person familiar with the case.
Among weapons the hackers used, according to people familiar with the case, was a small army of infected computers commanded by software called Black Energy. Hackers use Black Energy primarily to block access to Web sites. Somebody used it during Russia's brief 2008 war with Georgia to shut down Georgian government and bank Web sites. Someone also used it in 2007 to block government and bank Web sites in Estonia and to attack the Web site of a political foe of Vladimir Putin, then Russia's president and now its prime minister.
Black Energy was written by a Russian hacker who goes by the name Cr4sh and it sells online for $40.
Ref: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126145280820801177.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection |
| FBI probes hack at citibank |
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Written by Terence Sequeira
Thursday, 20 May 2010 14:47