UPDATE: Russia detects in 2015 cyber gang threatening banking system

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MOSCOW, Feb 4 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Interior Ministry detected a criminal gang that tried to steal money from all banks and put the banking system in jeopardy in 2015, Alexei Moshkov, head of the cyber police department, known under the “K” name, said Thursday at a forum.

“Last year, the K department revealed an international criminal community, which threatened security of the whole banking system of the Russian Federation,” Moshkov said.

“At the moment of detention, perpetrators were preparing a global operation to steal money almost from all banks of the country.”

Artyom Sychyov, deputy director of the main security department at the central bank, said that banks lost more than 1.5 billion rubles in hacker attacks in October–December 2015.

In 2015, the regulator founded FinCERT, a center for monitoring and response to computer attacks in the financial sphere. The entity collects information on hacker attacks from banks and gives recommendations.

More than 190 banks cooperate with FinCERT, and teamwork of the central bank with the police made “activities to prevent thefts, reduce the amounts that crooks tried to steal from banks” possible, Sychyov said.

(79.2593 rubles – U.S. $1)

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