RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: LOL, European Central Bank database hacked Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:48 pm | |
| Hackers broke into a database belonging to the European Central Bank and attempted to use the breach to extort cash from the institution.
"There had been a breach of the security protecting a database" serving the public website, the Frankfurt-based ECB said. "This led to the theft of email addresses and other contact data left by people registering for events at the ECB. No internal systems or market-sensitive data were compromised."
The ECB received an email on July 21 requesting an unspecified amount of money for the data, which contained all or part of a file of about 20,000 names and contact details of people who had previously signed up for ECB conferences, press briefings or other events, an ECB spokesman said. The ECB said the German police have been informed and an investigation has been started.
Frankfurt prosecutors are investigating the incident, office spokeswoman Doris Moeller-Scheu said.
The security violation comes less than four months before the ECB takes over a new role as the top banking supervisor for the euro area, a task that will involve managing more sensitive data than ever before. The breach is the first time hackers have succeeded in accessing non-public data at the central bank.
http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/european-central-bank-database-hacked-20140725-zwry5.html |
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