Posted on 04/14/2017 9:57:49 PM PDT by Fedora
A huge range of security exploits, said to be worth over $2m if sold on the black market, have been leaked online.
The tools are said to have been created by the US National Security Agency (NSA), and accompanying documents appear to indicate a possible breach of the Swift global banking system.
Such a hack could have enabled the US to covertly monitor financial transactions, researchers said.
The files were released by Shadow Brokers, a hacking group that has previously leaked malware.
If genuine, it represents perhaps the most significant exposure of NSA files since the Edward Snowden leaks in 2013.
On Twitter, Mr Snowden described it as the "Mother Of All Exploits"-a reference to a bomb recently used by the US military in Afghanistan.
Multiple experts have said this latest "data dump" is credible-though the institutions implicated have dismissed the claims, or refused to comment.
Swift, which is headquartered in Belgium, said: "We have no evidence to suggest that there has ever been any unauthorised access to our network or messaging services."
The BBC is not able to verify the authenticity of the files - and the NSA has not commented on the leak.
Swift was successfully targeted by hackers last year when criminals stole $81m from the Bangladeshi central bank...
In the Swift network, smaller banks often make use of service bureaus to handle transactions on their behalf. Documents included in the leak suggest at least one major bureau, EastNets, may have been compromised...
Headquartered in Dubai, EastNets has clients in Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen and Qatar. Spreadsheets published by Shadow Brokers appeared to list banks that had been breached with "implants"-secret data-gathering software.
Cris Thomas, a security researcher with Tenable...suggested the US government had the capability "to monitor, if not disrupt, financial transactions to terrorists groups".
In a statement on Friday, EastNets strongly denied the claims...
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
George: Can’t. They’re on the Cirrus system. My card won’t work there.
My secret code: Bosco! You know, the chocolate stuff. I love it.
Another article pinned this on N Korea
North Korea Linked to Digital Attacks on Global Banks (May 26, 2016)
Kaspersky Labs links North Korea to Bangladesh Bank heist (April 4, 2017)
Are these claims contradictory, or did someone give/sell North Korea the NSA's hacking tools?
From that second link: “Kaspersky says that this points to a possible origin of the Lazarus group or at least some of its members but stresses that ‘this is not enough proof to provide definitive attribution given that the connection session could have been a false flag operation’.”
NKoreans tired of old fashioned counterfeiting?
Anyone seen Bill Richardson ???
Could be.
Trump and North Korea: Climbing the escalation ladder
Trump prides himself on not showing his hand in negotiating deals, a style that creates tensions and huge uncertainties when applied to geopolitics involving nuclear weapons. Greatly adding to the risk is an inexperienced young Korean dictator in Kim Jong Un, whose paranoia has already led him to murder a number of close aides and his own uncle and half brother. “I worry that Kim Jong Un is different from his father and grandfather, because he’s very inward looking and unpredictable, and apparently bent on constantly sending messages of his own invincibility,” said Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who has negotiated with the North Koreans on a number of occasions to win the release of Western hostages. Whether it’s murdering family members or ratcheting up the pace of nuclear weapons tests and missile launches, he said, the North Korean leader has exhibited an unrestrained streak of aggression. “I really do believe this is the most dangerous time I’ve ever witnessed on the Korean Peninsula.”
Interesting picture in that last link of the NK guard with the American.
Makes me wonder if the NK guard is on a stepstool so as to look just as tall and the photographer had to creatively hid it.
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