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UPDATE 1-FBI probes cyber attack on Citigroup - WSJ
Tue Dec 22, 2009 11:51am EST
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<script type="text/javascript"> <!-- Exception rendering module on server --> </script> * Tens of million of dollars stolen, newspaper says
* Citigroup denies any bank or customer losses (Adds comment from Citigroup)
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing a computer hacking that targeted Citigroup Inc (C.N) and resulted in the theft of tens of million of dollars, The Wall Street Journal said, citing U.S. government officials. The cyber attack, believed to be linked to a Russian gang, was aimed at Citigroup's Citibank subsidiary, the paper said, adding it was unclear whether the hackers gained access to the bank's systems directly or through third parties. Two other entities, including a U.S. government agency, were also attacked by hackers, the paper said, citing people familiar with the Citibank incident. The attack on Citibank was believed to have taken place last summer, but U.S. investigators suspect it could have taken place a year earlier, the paper said.
"We had no breach of the system and there were no losses, no customer losses, no bank losses," Joe Petro, managing director of Citigroup's Security and Investigative services, said in an emailed statement from a press officer. "Any allegation that the FBI is working a case at Citigroup involving tens of millions of losses is just not true," he said. The Wall Street Journal mentioned a Citibank customer who saw more than $1 million removed from his account and sent to banks in Latvia and Ukraine. The bank helped him recover most of the money and reimbursed him for the rest, the newspaper reported, adding that it was not clear whether the incident was part of the larger attack on Citigroup. In a statement, the bank said it was an isolated case of fraud. (Reporting by Dan Wilchins; additional reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; editing by Valerie Lee and John Wallace)
