American banks were put on high alert earlier this week by the FBI, which warned that hackers had successfully compromised bank networks, using stolen credentials to transfer money overseas in packets of up to $900,000 at a time. In a separate breach, cyber attacks this week disrupted the public websites of Bank of America and JP Morgan, overwhelming them with traffic. An anonymous claim on the Internet states that the latter attack is in retaliation for the incendiary film currently roiling the Middle East. No credible connection has so far been established between the attack and the claim.
Whoever’s responsible, consider that the list of the companies whose secure information networks were compromised by hackers in 2011 includes: Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Bank of America, Cisco, Yahoo, Intel, IBM, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Wells Fargo, Northrop Grumman, Citigroup and Lockheed Martin–which at least admitted it, calling the attacks “significant and tenacious,” while most of the others kept quiet. The list ends about 800 major organizations—can you say IRS?—later.