JPMorgan’s (NYSE:JPM) hackers on the Loose

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s (NYSE:JPM) hackers are on the loose with systems now attached to potential attacks on a minimum of 13 other financial companies, according to an individual well acquainted with the case.

With the hack gone public, it came to the attention that the hackers targeted other companies which included a stock brokerage firm, a payroll-servicing firm and a few well known banks. Companies like HSBC Holdings (LON: HSBA), Regions Financial Corp (NYSE:RF), Automatic Data Processing Inc (NASDAQ:ADP) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) were also targeted according to certain individuals well acquainted with the internal handling of the company who reported that intruders were found through protective technology. It was through this high tech gear that the intruders were investigated.

Various intelligence agencies in the U.S. are working on investigations regarding hacks after the JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) breach. The number of probed companies by hackers are rising rapidly as U.S. officials now aren’t sure whether the list they maintained on probed companies is complete or no.

Information gathering is relatively slow leading to the idea that hackers are sophisticated in their handlings. This may also lead to the opinion that cooperation isn’t very steady between law enforcement officials and companies.

Two approaches are being used to extract data from companies. The first is Financial Services Information and Analysis Center. This is also known as the FS-ISAC which circulates the data of JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) in order to aid other companies by helping them in finding out if they were attacked or not.

The second approach includes letters which were sent by U.S. officials to financial companies in which they were asked to report signs of warning.

However, the lists reported different types of hacks which didn’t match up. Companies including Citigroup (NYSE:C), HSBC (LON: HSBA) as well as Automatic Data Processing Inc (NASDAQ:ADP) haven’t replied to the letters even with the warning signs that they have found on their networks.

The spokesperson for HSBC’s (LON: HSBA) London-based company, Rob Sherman, stated that the bank takes security very seriously and they are continuously monitoring the situation. He continued to say that the company is working with law enforcement agencies as well as groups in the financial industry to gain information on cyber-security.

Hackers tried to gain access to Citigroup (NYSE:C) but failed this year. The spokesperson Jeremy King stated that the company is monitoring the situation for any sort of unusual activity however there has been no evidence of any kind of breach.

The JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) breach brought with it data on hackers which included certain information on malware that was taken from the company’s network. A few companies went through their computer logs to find that they were connected to hacker IP addresses. While on the other hand, a few found signs of warning through firewalls as well as other devices.

There have been a couple of investigations leading the source of the JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) hack back to Russia. The company told consultants that the government of Russia may be involved in its hack leading to customer information loss.