Hackers Use Malware To Pull Off One Of The Largest Bank Robberies In History

Russian Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab recently uncovered an elaborate bank robbery scheme by a group of hackers being called the “Carbanak cybergang” who have used malware to steal as much as $900 million.

Total losses have not yet been confirmed, but the hackers targeted more than 100 banks and financial institutions in over 30 different countries. 

The hackers often targeted the same banks repeatedly by using malware to learn the typical operational procedures at the banks and then mimic the actions of bank employees.

How It Worked

The first step of the process was to infiltrate a bank’s administrative computer by sending malware-infected emails out to hundreds of bank employees. Once installed, the malware program recorded keystrokes, took screenshots and allowed hackers remote access to infected computers. 

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After hackers learned a bank's internal procedures, they used that knowledge to transfer money to fraudulent accounts, wire money to oversees accounts and direct ATM machines to disperse cash at specific times of day.

Which Banks Were Hit?

Kaspersky Lab cannot reveal the names of the banks that were victimized due to nondisclosure agreements with the affected firms. However, the majority of the targets were in Russia. Currently, no bank has willingly come forward to acknowledge that it was targeted by the group.

Kaspersky managing director Chris Doggett compared the sophistication of the plot to the elaborate scheme from “Ocean's Eleven.”

Cybersecurity Plays

This massive bank heist is just the latest headline in a seemingly constant stream of cybersecurity breaches in the business world.

Investors wishing to profit off of the ever-growing need for cybersecurity might be interested in the stocks of FireEye Inc FEYE, Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd CHKP, Symantec Corp SYMC and CyberArk Software Ltd CYBR, or The PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF HACK.