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AROUND THE WORLD 1: Attempted Robbery In London Fails

The British and Israeli police are now investigating an attempted robbery of $421.2 million from the London offices of a Japanese bank. A gang of computer hackers apparently attempted to transfer the money to ten accounts around the world, an Israeli official said.

The Israeli police arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of trying to steal approximately $27 million. His bank account was one of the intended recipients.

“The fact is it was a total failure and it was a total failure along the line, and the crooks left their foot print, which we gave to the police,” said a representative of the bank.

The gang used keylogging software to hack into the bank. Keylogging software is a type of “spyware” or virus that records users’ keystrokes, thereby giving the hackers the account numbers and passwords that let them hack into the bank’s system.

“As a police investigation is under way right now, we’d like to refrain from commenting on the case,” said a spokesperson for the bank. “We have taken sufficient measures in terms of security and have not suffered any financial damage.”

It remained unclear whether the criminals actually broke into the bank or just hacked in from a computer.

“Spyware is by no means a new threat…but the difference now is that the criminal community is now starting to exploit it to its advantage,” said a spokesperson from an internet security company.

--Written by Christopher Gooch

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