JPMorgan Hack [UPDATE]: 3 Israelis, 1 Unidentified Hacker Charged In 23-Count Indictment With Alleged Involvement In Largest Data Breach In 2014


On Tuesday, U.S. prosecutors named four men tied in the JPMorgan Chase hack last year, which was considered as the largest data breach of its kind ever discovered. Gery Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron and Ziv Orenstein, all from Israel, were charged in a 23-count indictment with alleged crimes targeting 12 companies, including 9 financial services companies and media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal.

Known as one of the largest thefts of financial-related data in history, the JPMorgan Chase hack last year compromised the information of 83 million customers, International Business Times noted. And according to the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the "sprawling cybercriminal enterprise" has involved stock manipulation, money laundering through at least 75 shell companies and accounts globally, identity theft, online casinos, payment processing for criminals and an illegal bitcoin exchange.

Aside from the Israelis, Anthony Murgio, who was charged in a separate indictment, was also named in an FBI memo for having a connection with the JPMorgan Chase hack, which was made public in October 2014. The Feds also revealed that Shalon and Aaron, both 31, executed the hacking by using a computer server in Egypt, which they rented under an alias.

Moreover, Shalon, Aaron and an unnamed defendant were also named in a separate indictment in Atlanta, where they were accused of targeting E*Trade Financial Corp and Scottrade Inc. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp, News Corp's Dow Jones Unite and Fidelity Investment were also targets, Reuters has learned.

"By any measure, the data breaches at these firms were breathtaking in scope and in size, and signal a brave new world of hacking for profit," Bharara said at a press conference in Manhattan.

The JPMorgan Chase hack suspects, Shalon aka Garri Shalelashvili, Phillipe Mousset and Christopher Engeham and 40-year-old Orenstein, were arrested in July. While Aaron, a U.S. citizen who lives in Moscow and Tel Aviv, remains at large and is the subject of an FBI "wanted" poster, Bloomberg Business reported.

"They colluded with corrupt international bank officials who willfully ignored its criminal nature in order to profit from, as a co-conspirator described it to Shalon, their payment processing 'casino/software/pharmaceutical cocktail'," the suspects' indictment stated.

Meanwhile, Anthony Murgio, who was arrested in Florida in July, was also indicted separately for crimes related to a Bitcoin-exchange service and the takeover of a New Jersey credit union to further the business.

As for the fourth hacker, who helped Shalon, Aaron and Orenstein in the JPMorgan Chase hack, has remained unidentified. But according to Wired, the hacker used multiple methods to break into the networks, including brute-force attacks. And in order to hide their activities, the hackers set up dozens of shell companies and used fake passports as well as other fraudulent credentials to maintain false identities.

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