The Russians could be launching cyber attacks against US banks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Wednesday that it is currently working with the Secret Service to investigate a new wave of cyber attacks that have been directed at financial institutions in the United States, including JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States by assets.

The two groups are working “to determine the scope of recently reported cyber attacks against several American financial institutions”. According to the FBI: “Combating cyber threats and criminals remains a top priority for the United States government. We are constantly working with American companies to fight cyber attacks.”

Several reports claim that JPMorgan Chase was one of the companies that was targeted in a recent attack, however, the company refused to comment on the specific incident. “Companies of our size unfortunately experience cyber attacks nearly every day,” JPMorgan said. “We have multiple layers of defense to counteract any threats and constantly monitor fraud levels.”

Investigators have suggested that the attack may have come from somewhere in Russia or elsewhere in Eastern Europe. “The way the Russians do it, to the extent we can see into the process, is they encourage certain targets,” said James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “The Russians typically keep open the options to do something more, and the question now is what would trigger that and what would our response be.”

Read more about the story at Reuters.