Israel, US arrest four over a string of big bank hacks
After months of investigation, law enforcement has nabbed suspects believed to be behind hacks at JPMorgan Chase and other big banks... and they're not quite the master criminals you might expect. Both the FBI and Israeli police have arrested four people for what now appears to be a classic "pump and dump" stock fraud scheme. The group (which includes one still at large) artificially drove up share prices and volumes for 'quiet' companies through a mix of email campaigns and pre-arranged trades, and sold to reap the windfall. In certain situations, they even pushed for private companies to go public solely to turn them into targets.
The arrests may put to rest fears that some of these bank hacks were state-sponsored attacks, or else the work of elaborate gangs hoping to steal info. However, they also show that it doesn't require an elaborate organization to cause chaos. In some situations, it only takes a few greedy but knowledgeable intruders to compromise your data and create serious problems.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig]
