According to the indictment, cited by Bloomberg, the cyber attack targeted a business news publication, brokerages, and “one of the world’s biggest banks”.
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Shalon and Orenstein are Israeli nationals who were arrested in July. Asked, “In Israel, you guys probably don’t have to be afraid of the U.S…. meaning that even if there is a few case, they won’t be able to do anything?” Asked whether buying stocks was popular in the US, Shalon said: “It’s like drinking freaking vodka in Russian Federation”. Aaron, 31, is a US citizen who has lived in Moscow and Tel Aviv. Ziv Orenstein, a 40-year-old Israeli, allegedly operated illegal casinos and payment processors with Shalon and controlled shell companies for Shalon. A few of the institutions weren’t named in Tuesday’s indictment. Among charges in the indictment were computer hacking, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
The day after the J.P. Morgan hack was first reported in the media in August 2014, the rental was abruptly canceled, prosecutors said.
In a conversation described in the 68-page indictment, Shalon boasted to an unnamed co-conspirator that his sale of stocks represented “a small step towards a large empire”. As the stock price rose, the hackers would sell off their investment, making a profit. Breaking into the bank gave them information to target specific people – and extra insight into the stock market, federal agents said. The indictments include a few 30 criminal charges carrying penalties of between five and 20 years each.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission had already filed civil charges related to securities fraud against Mr Shalon, Mr Aaron and Mr Orenstein.
A few of the massive computer hacks and cyberattacks occurred as the men sought to steal the customer base of competing Internet gambling businesses or to secretly review executives’ emails in a quest to cripple rivals, according to the indictment.
Authorities are saying that the trio used around 200 false identity documents, including passports from the United States and 16 other countries.
“We appreciate the strong partnership with law enforcement in bringing the criminals to justice”, JPMorgan said in an emailed statement. “As we did here, we continue to cooperate with law enforcement in fighting cybercrime”. Data breaches are information-gathering expeditions that yield sensitive data that’s extremely valuable to criminals.
Officials said the invesigation was continuing. Shalon allegedly ran an illicit online bitcoin exchange, coin.mx, which prosecutors say violated federal anti-money laundering statutes.
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The Wall Street Journal, E-Trade and Scottrade did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
