iTrax's  Instablog

Last Sunday's cyber attack on US Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis appears to be a lot more serious than the St.Louis FED have told the media, the authorities and financial institutions they serve. According to ZDNet the hacktivist group Anonymous may have released important banking information that could be connected to Federal Reserve computers, including contact information and cell phone numbers for US bank Presidents, Vice Presidents, COO's Branch Managers, VP's and more. The FBI has now opened a criminal investigation into hacking incident.

"As an information security expert, its my official position that there was a blatant and irresponsible lack of tact and urgency in the response by the Federal Reserve to the individuals and institutions contained in this list. I'd go as far as to say they have irrevocably LIED to their constituents here."

Security Expert

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According to the ZDNet report, the information security community is outraged at the Federal Reserve for its dismissive attitude and lack of transparency around Sunday's emergency contact system hack. A Federal Reserve Spokesperson told reporters that Anonymous' claim to the hack's importance was "overstated," but information security professionals that serve financial institutions says the exact opposite. Now they are angry with the Federal Reserve for downplaying the incident - very angry.

The hacktivist group Anonymous accessed the US Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' internal files and servers, by hacking the FED's emergency contact system, ZDNet reports.

The emergency contact system (ECS) enables agencies to establish two-way communications channels with institutions during a crisis to exchange critical information; crises such as natural or man-made disasters; weather, fire, and so on, chemical biological events or threats, and events affecting the financial markets

One of the people who express his concern with the hacking incident is Veracode chief technology officer, Chris Wysopal, calling the hack "a spearphishing bonanza and the most valuable account dump by quality I have seen in a while."

"As an information security expert, its my official position that there was a blatant and irresponsible lack of tact and urgency in the response by the Federal Reserve to the individuals and institutions contained in this list. I'd go as far as to say they have irrevocably LIED to their constituents here," says another security expert.

Hacking for…….Chris Dorner!?

But when it comes to the motive for breaking into the US Central Bank, it becomes rather strange…

ZDNet points out that the Anonymous previously hacked other US government websites, including the U.S. Sentencing Commission and the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center. The report also claim that Anonymous new attack's filename refers to Christopher Dorner, an ex-LAPD officer that is currently the target of a California state-wide manhunt for killing three people.

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