A 'Russian' cyber group called LockBit claimed to have hacked the Federal Reserve and leaked 33 terabytes of sensitive banking data.
LockBit boasted of a dark web breach this week.
“33 terabytes of useful banking information containing Americans’ banking secrets,” LockBit wrote. “You’d better hire another negotiator within 48 hours and fire this bumbling idiot who values an American’s banking secrets at $50,000.”
#USA: The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has been registered as a victim of the LockBit 3.0 ransomware group.
Hackers reportedly leaked 33TB of banking information.
Ransom payment deadline: June 24th and 25th.#ransomware pic.twitter.com/JGC1YG7y4A
— HackManac (@H4ckManac) June 24, 2024
Cybersecurity experts have expressed doubts about LockBit's claims.
“If the Lockbit ransomware group actually paid the US Federal Reserve ransom, it would be DEFCON 2 and administrators would have to worry about drone attacks,” the group jokingly wrote. “Unless the Lockbit ransomware group pays something small as ransom from the Federal Reserve, for example, Lockbit knocks down your coffee machine so you can't see animations, etc. (who knows what Federal Reserve employees actually do) You can not).”
Yesterday, the Lockbit ransomware group claimed to have held the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to ransom.
1. Doubt
2. If the Lockbit ransomware group actually paid the US Federal Reserve ransom, it would be DEFCON 2 and administrators would have to worry about drone attacks. pic.twitter.com/CVwj0aHs5h
— vx-underground (@vxunderground) June 24, 2024
There's no proof, so I'm probably just blowing off steam.
— Dominic Alvieri (@AlvieriD) June 23, 2024
The Daily Dot reported:
A ransomware group known as LockBit claims to have hacked the Federal Reserve and said on Tuesday it would release 33 terabytes of sensitive data.
In a post on the dark web this week, criminal gangs claimed to have negotiated with banks to secure a ransom in exchange for data being kept private.
“33 terabytes of useful banking information containing Americans’ banking secrets,” the group wrote. “You’d better hire another negotiator within 48 hours and fire this bumbling idiot who values an American’s banking secrets at $50,000.”
LockBit rose to prominence in 2019 when it paid a multi-million dollar ransom. And although the group's online infrastructure was shut down by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in February, LockBit reemerged and continued operating.
However, cybersecurity experts are skeptical of the Federal Reserve's claims and note that LockBit has not released any sample data.