Tag: Banks

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Hackers steal up to $1 billion from banks

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Hackers steal up to $1 billion from banks

Cybersecurity firm says international hacking ring steals up to $1 billion from banks

By Mae Anderson, AP Technology Writer4 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — A report from a cybersecurity firm says an international hacking ring has stolen up to $1 billion from banks around the globe in what would be one of the biggest banking breaches known.

The hackers have been active since at least the end of 2013 and infiltrated more than 100 banks in 30 countries, according to Russian security company Kaspersky Lab.

After gaining access to banks’ computers through phishing schemes and other methods, they lurk for months to learn the banks’ systems. Then the hackers have programmed ATMs to dispense money at specific times or set up fake accounts and transferred money into them.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-steal-1-billion-banks-184427767.html

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How Federal Agents Illegally Force Twitter, Google, and Banks to Turn Over Private Customer Data Without a Proper Warrant

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How Federal Agents Illegally Force Twitter, Google, and Banks to Turn Over Private Customer Data Without a Proper Warrant

Private companies are fighting the federal government in court over the Patriot Act’s “National Security Letters,” which violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

Earlier this week, FBI Director James Comey gave an interview to 60 Minutes during which he revealed a flawed understanding of personal freedom. He rightly distinguished what FBI agents do in their investigations of federal crimes from what the NSA does in its intelligence gathering, when the two federal agencies are looking for non-public data.

The FBI requires, Comey correctly asserted, articulable suspicion to commence an investigation and probable cause to obtain a search warrant. It does this because its agents have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and their failure to comply with that oath may very well render the evidence obtained by unconstitutional means useless in court.

The NSA, as we know, makes no pretense about presenting probable cause to a judge. Rather, it asks a judge on a secret court (so secret that the judges themselves are kept from the court’s files) for general warrants. A warrant based on probable cause must specifically describe the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized. General warrants, which the Constitution prohibits, permit the bearer to search wherever he wishes and seize whatever he finds.

https://reason.com/archives/2014/10/16/unconstitutional-patriot-act

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Bank failures fading, but not completely, from view

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Bank failures fading, but not completely, from view
Aug. 12, 2014, 11:11 a.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of bank failures is slowing down due to the improving economy and rising property values, but the industry is still not back to pre-crash levels and future growth remains uncertain.

Only 14 banks failed in the first half of this year, according to the most recent data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Last year, 24 banks failed – down from 157 failures in 2010, the peak failure year since the banking sector was taken down by the financial crisis in 2008. Typically, when a bank fails, its capital becomes too low to meet obligations to its creditors because of sustained losses, causing regulators to close it.

“This is a very typical bank failure cycle,” said Bert Ely, a banking industry consultant based in Alexandria, Va. “As the economy improves, banks work out their problems and the FDIC and other banking regulators closed failed banks, then you revert back to the normal situation of having very few bank failures.”

With the economic recovery continuing, many FDIC-regulated banks have improved their balance sheets, made more loans and enjoyed stronger earnings, but the industry has not improved to the single-digit annual failure rate pre-crisis.

“I don’t think we are back to the zero failure,” FDIC’s Chief Economist Richard Brown said, referring to 2005 and 2006 when no banks went under. “There are still institutions dealing with the aftermath of the recession.”

More than 400 banks remain on the FDIC’s unofficial problem list of troubled institutions that may run the risk of failure in the near terms. The list has shrunk to half the size of the peak year of 2010. However, the number remains elevated when measured against the pre-crash year 2007 with its mere 76 problem banks.

The declining pace of failures is an indication of more business activity, lower unemployment rates and a relatively stronger lending market.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-failures-fading-but-not-completely-from-view-2014-08-12?mod=latestnewssocialflow&link=sfmw