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Five heavily armed men walk through the front door of a suburban bank. Guns drawn, they quickly overpower the rent-a-cop in the bank’s lobby.
The bank tellers – scared for their lives – hand over all the cash on hand. They stuff more than $100,000 in unmarked bills – everything from George Washingtons to Benjamin Franklins – into the burglars’ duffel bags.
What happens next surprises the investigators. Long before the cops arrive, the robbers simply walk out the door and head home. On their way out, they leave the bags of cash sitting on the lobby floor.
It sounds absurd. But this is exactly what happened just four months ago.
The bank was JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). And it wasn’t a local bank branch that was robbed.
Instead, it was the entire bank.
It wasn’t robbed at gunpoint. The robbery was done by a small group of Russian hackers. Shockingly, their crime went completely unnoticed for nearly two months.
So what happened? In June, Russian hackers discovered a flaw in the bank’s websites. They quickly began installing programs on 90 JPMorgan servers. Next, they gained access to the bank’s databases containing sensitive account information.
Their goal was simple – to steal sensitive financial data about JPMorgan bank accounts.
JPMorgan first reported the incident in September. At the time, the bank reported that just one million accounts were compromised. But the bank’s security analysts were either optimistic or clueless.
Earlier this month, the bank disclosed the scope of the security breach: 76 million household accounts and 7 million small business accounts were compromised.
The news was shocking. Especially since JPMorgan spends $250 million a year on cyber security.
U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey summed it up: “The data breach at JPMorgan Chase is yet another example of how Americans’ most sensitive personal information is in danger.”
83 million compromised accounts. That makes this security breach the biggest ever. But that’s not even the shocking part of the story…
There is no disputing the fact that the hackers stole this sensitive account-holder information. Yet investigators and law enforcement officials haven’t discovered any fraudulent activity as a result.
That’s right. Not a single penny has been stolen. And there haven’t been any cyber “phishing” efforts to gain additional account information.
The Russian hackers allegedly have a cozy relationship with President Vladimir Putin’s government. But that still begs the question of why these hackers would break into the largest U.S. bank without a profit motive.
Some speculate that the Russian government is sponsoring this cyber hacking as retaliation for new sanctions from the U.S. They are simply trying to be a nuisance for our country’s top banks.
Meanwhile, other security experts think this intrusion could be just the first step of a bigger, coordinated, cyber war against U.S. financial institutions. Earlier this month The New York Times reported that nine additional banks were also hacked by the same group of Russian hackers.
Investigators, cyber security consultants, and U.S. lawmakers are extremely concerned about what will happen next.
Was this the first step of a concerted effort to take down top U.S. banks? What will the Russians do with the financial data that’s been stolen? Should U.S. banks be bracing for a bigger attack? And most importantly – how can you protect yourself?
These are important questions. And you deserve answers.
I’ve spent the last three months researching the cyber war that is quietly raging between the U.S., Russia, China and Iran. And the facts are downright scary.
Yesterday, I released a timely special report on this new conflict that I call Cold War 2.0. It threatens to bring down banks, the financial system, and the prosperity of every American. And I want to bring you up to speed.
I encourage you to click here now to get all the details on this urgent situation and the new Cold War.
The Devastation Could be Enormous – Protect Yourself NOW
Rail lines rerouted. Tankers with hazardous chemicals derailed in the middle of cities. The electrical power grid short-circuited. Jetliners falling from the skies. And trillions of dollars wiped out in seconds – all part of the new war being waged against the US. You can protect yourself, and prosper, from the coming conflict. Click here now for full details.