Bank Hackers Set up "Enormous Network" to Mine Bitcoin for Laundering Money

[BADecker]

Bank Hackers Set up "Enormous Network" to Mine Bitcoin for Laundering Money

Europol has revealed that an international group of cyber criminals, which has stolen over a billion dollars from multiple banks by hacking their ATMs, has been using cryptocurrency as a means to conduct money laundering. The information was made public after cooperation by investigators from all over the world led to the arrest of the mastermind behind the sophisticated crime syndicate.

ATM Malware Gang

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) has announced on Monday that the leader of the cybercrime gang behind the Carbanak and Cobalt malware attacks has been arrested in Spain. The action was supported by the American FBI, the Romanian, Moldovan, Belarussian and Taiwanese authorities as well as private cyber security companies.

Under his leadership, the alleged criminals would send bank employees spear phishing emails with a malicious software attachment. Once downloaded, the malware allowed the criminals to remotely control the victims' infected machines, giving them access to the internal banking network and infecting servers controlling ATMs. They hit banks in more than 40 countries, resulting in total losses of over €1 billion.

The illicit gains were also laundered via cryptocurrencies, by means of prepaid cards linked to the cryptocurrency wallets which were used to buy goods such as luxury cars and houses, according to the European agency. Steven Wilson, Head of Europol's Cybercrime Centre, commented: "The arrest of the key figure in this crime group illustrates that cybercriminals can no longer hide behind perceived international anonymity."

Read more at https://news.bitcoin.com/bank-hackers-set-up-enormous-network-to-mine-bitcoin-for-laundering-money/.

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[franky1]

things this reveals

1. banks internal network is not secure.
2. ATM's actually have code to 'spit' out cash without a card. and also spit out more than a few hundred at a time
3. bank accounts can 'add balance' without the account checking where the funds originated

i think banks have admitted too much about how in-secure they are.

banks should take a lesson from blockchain tech about point 3. blockchain cant just add balance without showing source of funds

[sorrysteve1]

Interesting how a story about banks vulnerabilities and security inefficiencies is somehow span in a way that's anti cryptocurrency, no one would bat an eyelid if they had laundered their money through some business fronts. Of course crypto can be used to launder money, just like traditional banking systems can be if you know what you're doing.

[tokexchain]

The whole banking and most of the financial organisations are quite outdated, some are still run on traditional (draconian) laws, and so are pretty unresolute to new tech and findings, stuck in a rut alongside their piles of dirty wealth. Of course those who do not keep up are in fact, at some point left behind, I mean they are still using paper money WTF, there is no immutable value to that, just a uncontrolled form of hyperinflation with the printing of new notes with not a care, of course this only affects the financially drained of the populations. It is time to step up and take the controls!

[eternalgloom]

You know what I find strangest about all of this? That bank employees are able to download these malicious files while they're connected to the company network.
Time for those sysadmins to put some more restrictions on those people if the damage could be that huge.

Criminals using Bitcoin to launder money, what else is new... They'll eventually switch over to something that's more anonymous.

[dothebeats]

No matter how bad these banks do, or no natter how negative the news may seem, as long as you insert the word 'cryptocurrency' in there, the meaning would suddenly change especially to those who don't know what cryptocurrencies are. In this case, the headline is hinting towards crypto being the target but if you read carefully, it is the insecure nature of the banks' own systems that enables hackers to get the money and place it elsewhere. Most people nowadays only read the title/headline and don't bother to read deeper, leaving a distaste regarding cryptocurrencies and thinking that banks are still the way to go.

[godzillarekt007]

No matter how bad these banks do, or no natter how negative the news may seem, as long as you insert the word 'cryptocurrency' in there, the meaning would suddenly change especially to those who don't know what cryptocurrencies are. In this case, the headline is hinting towards crypto being the target but if you read carefully, it is the insecure nature of the banks' own systems that enables hackers to get the money and place it elsewhere. Most people nowadays only read the title/headline and don't bother to read deeper, leaving a distaste regarding cryptocurrencies and thinking that banks are still the way to go.

And you know why we people in general don't read articles anymore? Because there is tons of misinformation, you have to source check, you have to actually read, and most importantly we are bombarded with tons of information in a day that its next to impossible to retain it all. That is why I only read the important stuff, not saying this isn't but people prioritize. It is unfortunate because then misinformation does go around because of titles, but there is nothing you can do about this in the digital age of news everywhere.

[chandrarahmadewa]

my opinion about this news,
News like this keeps the bitcoin value down. Confidence in bitcoin is reduced, whereas Bitcoin is used as a means of payment or transaction. So why is such a bitcoin being blamed on the news? it should be, the bank must realize the importance of a security system.forgive me, if anyone disagrees with me

[countryfree]

There's something fishy about this news.
From: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/mastermind-behind-eur-1-billion-cyber-bank-robbery-arrested-in-spain

The criminal profits were also laundered via cryptocurrencies, by means of prepaid cards linked to the cryptocurrency wallets which were used to buy goods such as luxury cars and houses.

In Europe, prepaid cards are limited to €2,500 of transactions each year. I don't what are the regulations elsewhere, but I would be really surprised if it was possible to buy luxury cars, and real estate, with a prepaid card.

[sorrysteve1]

No matter how bad these banks do, or no natter how negative the news may seem, as long as you insert the word 'cryptocurrency' in there, the meaning would suddenly change especially to those who don't know what cryptocurrencies are. In this case, the headline is hinting towards crypto being the target but if you read carefully, it is the insecure nature of the banks' own systems that enables hackers to get the money and place it elsewhere. Most people nowadays only read the title/headline and don't bother to read deeper, leaving a distaste regarding cryptocurrencies and thinking that banks are still the way to go.

And you know why we people in general don't read articles anymore? Because there is tons of misinformation, you have to source check, you have to actually read, and most importantly we are bombarded with tons of information in a day that its next to impossible to retain it all. That is why I only read the important stuff, not saying this isn't but people prioritize. It is unfortunate because then misinformation does go around because of titles, but there is nothing you can do about this in the digital age of news everywhere.

There's plenty you can do, if you're only going to read titles at least understand that these titles are often very far from the actual truth of the news. Not having enough time to read and digest everything is not a good enough excuse for being misinformed, it takes no more than 15 seconds to get at the true story behind this article.

[richardsNY]

my opinion about this news,
News like this keeps the bitcoin value down. Confidence in bitcoin is reduced, whereas Bitcoin is used as a means of payment or transaction. So why is such a bitcoin being blamed on the news? it should be, the bank must realize the importance of a security system.forgive me, if anyone disagrees with me

This news is nothing more than an opportunity for the media to draw attention, and that's it. In no shape or form should news like this affect the market, and it doesn't. The price is going down because even at current levels it seems to be too high to sustain, which is something that people may find hard to believe, but it's the reality. If you read through this article carefully, and look through the mainstream gibberish, it's on purposely written in a way that puts the blame on crypto, and not on the real problem, which isn't crypto related at all. This yet again shows that people again, only read what they want to read, and fail to understand the actual context of this article....

[Aura]

things this reveals

1. banks internal network is not secure.
2. ATM's actually have code to 'spit' out cash without a card. and also spit out more than a few hundred at a time
3. bank accounts can 'add balance' without the account checking where the funds originated

i think banks have admitted too much about how in-secure they are.

banks should take a lesson from blockchain tech about point 3. blockchain cant just add balance without showing source of funds

That's a really accurate analysis. What makes it hilarious is that the banks argument against Bitcoin is that it is money created out of 'thin air', while this article suggest that it's even more true for banks and thus fiat.

[avikz]

things this reveals

1. banks internal network is not secure.
2. ATM's actually have code to 'spit' out cash without a card. and also spit out more than a few hundred at a time
3. bank accounts can 'add balance' without the account checking where the funds originated

i think banks have admitted too much about how in-secure they are.

banks should take a lesson from blockchain tech about point 3. blockchain cant just add balance without showing source of funds

That's a really accurate analysis. What makes it hilarious is that the banks argument against Bitcoin is that it is money created out of 'thin air', while this article suggest that it's even more true for banks and thus fiat.

Everything within world wide web is not 100% secure. Banks are no exceptions. So when it comes to the security of people's money, banks can't give us peace of mind. And the argument is another different story altogether and can't be linked with this news.

Banks will not leave any single chance to demoralize crypto user by saying fake things because it is directly affecting their business. Also we can't deny that fact that cryptos are now being used as a medium of money laundering. So that's a risk factor for common people in general. But we can't expect everyone to be perfect. So this kind of matters will keep popping up every now and then.

[jhean_arcane]

things this reveals

1. banks internal network is not secure.
2. ATM's actually have code to 'spit' out cash without a card. and also spit out more than a few hundred at a time
3. bank accounts can 'add balance' without the account checking where the funds originated

i think banks have admitted too much about how in-secure they are.

banks should take a lesson from blockchain tech about point 3. blockchain cant just add balance without showing source of funds

This is very True!

1. I worked in a bank, so I can attest to this. Even call centers have access to all your banking information.

3. I experienced this! My account balance grew into 1000 bucks and I didn't deposit anything in it. After several hours, this ghost balance disappeared from my account. It's a good thing I didn't withdrew the amount.

That's why banks wage war against blockchain and ultimately to all cryptocurrencies.

Security in banks is a fantasy.

[RamonBTC]

Two stones in one throw, this is how bankers work. They’ve been hacked to a certain cyber crime group, but they blame crypto for laundering the money. The pattern is obvious, they can’t handle to protect and safely store our money, but the instead they’re the one corrupting it and the blame goes to bitcoin.

Fuck that shit. They want to clean they’re hands from accountability or hide the truth that they’re the one hacking that money.

[chandrarahmadewa]

This news is nothing more than an opportunity for the media to draw attention, and that's it. In no shape or form should news like this affect the market, and it doesn't. The price is going down because even at current levels it seems to be too high to sustain, which is something that people may find hard to believe, but it's the reality. If you read through this article carefully, and look through the mainstream gibberish, it's on purposely written in a way that puts the blame on crypto, and not on the real problem, which isn't crypto related at all. This yet again shows that people again, only read what they want to read, and fail to understand the actual context of this article....

Yeah, I know it. The main problems are, whatever this "Gank" do, even only a bit related to crypto, it will be affected to crypto market, though isn't directly.

Every element of this fraud activity would be more concern, including crypto which is one way to do money laundering (like what this Gank do). It is related to policy, just remember when BTC-Guild must close that affected by a policy. In this case, more concern to crypto (neg) would make a limits restrictions on the crypto market.