The FBI and US Secret Service have put to bed rumours that a recent cyber attack on JP Morgan & Chase, America’s largest bank, was sponsored by the Russian government.
The financial institution admitted in August that hackers had accessed the names and contact details of 83 million customers, making the breach one of the largest in history. However, account details, passwords, user IDs and other personal information such as birth dates and Social Security numbers are not thought to have been compromised.
At a press conference held yesterday at the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington, law enforcement figures said that the attack is believed to have been mounted by cybercriminals. The authorities rejected earlier suggestions that the hack was revenge by the Russian government for economic sanctions, put in place in protest of the ongoing hostilities with Ukraine.
“There is no indication this was the result of sanctions,” said Joseph Demarest, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division.
