JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States by its assets, has revealed that the cyber security breach that has happened this summer has affected the personal information of over 76 million US households. This was one of the largest breaches – of the ones disclosed – that was revealed by the institution.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the attackers – still unknown – have gained access to the contact information of JP Morgan customers. The information stolen includes names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The attack, still under investigation by both the bank’s own security department and by law enforcement authorities, has affected a number of over 76 million households, equal to two thirds of the total number of American homes. It has not been clarified how many of the affected households are based in the US. The breach also has affected over seven million of the bank’s small business customers.
It is not yet clear how the hackers have gained access to the information stored on the bank’s servers. The attackers were not able to gain access to detailed information of their customers’ accounts, so their account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers and birth dates – ultimately, their money – are safe. Also, the bank claims not to have seen a surge in suspicious and fraudulent activities since the attack, so customers don’t need to urgently change their passwords and other security related information. Still, it won’t harm…
Other similar incidents were also reported this year. Home Depot has disclosed a cyber attack in September, affecting 56 million payment cards issued by the company. One year ago Adobe Systems has reported an attack, where hackers gained access to over 100 million usernames and encrypted passwords. In 2011 a Russian hacker group broke into the Nasdaq OMX – this time nothing was taken.
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Although this was the largest cyber attack on a financial institution this year that was also disclosed, cyber security experts don’t consider it a major threat to the affected customers. It seems that the attackers were not interested in stealing people’s money at all, instead targeting the bank’s marketing functions. Not that this would make the attack less concerning. It has shown that talented hackers can enter wherever they wish and access and take whatever they want.