Tag Archive for: Wall

Hackers hit Wall Street arm of Chinese banking giant ICBC

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Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan analyzes Q3 earnings, the Fed’s rate campaign, consumer spending, the state of small business and the macroeconomic landscape.

A U.S. subsidiary of China’s biggest bank was hacked this week, threatening a temporary logjam for some trades in the Treasury bond market.

ICBC Financial Services, a New York-based entity owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, was the victim of a ransomware attack on Wednesday. The unit largely focuses on clearing, which means ensuring that transactions previously agreed by traders go through, and on lending and borrowing through repurchase agreements—a form of collateralized funding that forms a vital part of the financial system. 

CYBERATTACK OF MAJOR MORTGAGE SERVICER LEAVES CUSTOMERS WITHOUT ONLINE PAYMENT OPTION

The company was forced to disconnect and isolate some of its I.T. systems after the attack. But it said it was able to clear all trades involving U.S. Treasurys that were executed on Wednesday, and repo financing that took place on Thursday.

Josh Birenbaum, deputy director for the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, discusses why trading partners find it increasingly difficult to do business in and with Beijing.

The incident shines a spotlight on the financial connections between China and the U.S., which persist despite political tensions and economic rivalry between the two countries. Chinese institutions hold more than $800 billion of Treasury bonds, even after a yearslong reduction in their holdings, and the country’s biggest banks are active in the U.S. government-bond market.

BOEING LOOKING INTO HACKING GANG’S RANSOMWARE THREAT

ICBC Financial Services forms part of the plumbing of the U.S. Treasury market as a member of the government-securities division of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. The FICC clears all trades in government bonds among members, which include household names such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, as well as smaller interdealer brokers.

SlateStone Wealth chief market strategist Kenny Polcari joined ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss the U.S. economy, arguing that Treasury yields are…

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MGM Hack Exposes Social Security Numbers – 24/7 Wall St.

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Business

September 19, 2023 7:30 am

Last Updated: September 19, 2023 8:49 am

For more than a decade, Americans have worried that hacks of big companies might expose some of their confidential data. According to LifeLock, this has happened with the huge MGM hack, which included six terabytes of data from MGM and Caesars. Members of the loyalty club of the companies had Social Security numbers and driver’s license data exposed. It is unclear whether any of those people face identity theft. (These are 22 notorious unsolved crimes in American history.)

Some hacks that exposed a huge amount of data are over a decade old. The Sony PlayStation network was hacked in 2011, exposing 77 million personal records. Experian, the credit rating agency, was hacked earlier this year. Given the business it is in, it should have the best anti-hacking system in the world.

In the dark world of hackers, efforts have not stopped at companies. City software systems and hospitals have been hacked, in some cases affecting patient data and the ability of metros to operate key services.

Hackers have started to ask for large amounts of money as ransom, which can stretch into millions of dollars. These payments must be made for organizations with essential parts of the systems taken down.



ALSO READ: Biggest Financial Frauds and Scandals of the 21st Century

Consumer and business concerns extend beyond identity theft. A major hack of banks threatens deposits. The FDIC protects deposits up to $250,000, but what if businesses have more than that at stake?

The cold truth about hacks is that software protection companies meant to shield clients are not good enough. The skills of hackers have stayed one step ahead. There is no reason to think that will stop.

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Invest in 5 Internet Software Stocks for Sparkling Returns – 24/7 Wall St.

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The technology sector is seeing a dream run in 2023 after a highly disappointing 2022. Year to date, out of the 11 broad sectors of the S&P 500 Index, the Technology Select SPDR (XLK) is the largest gainer, jumping 43.6%. Its close resemblance — the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) — has also surged 43.3%. Moreover, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has rallied 36.5% year to date.

Within the technology sector, the Zacks Defined Internet-Software Industry is currently placed in the top 25% of all industries with a year-to-date return of 61.5%. The Internet software industry is benefiting from continued demand for a global digital transformation. Growth prospects are alluring primarily due to the rapid adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS), which offers flexible and cost-effective delivery of applications.

SaaS attempts to deliver applications to any user, anywhere, anytime and on any device. It has been effective in addressing customer expectations of seamless communications across multiple channels, including voice, chat, email, web, social media and mobile.

The growing need to secure cloud platforms amid rampant incidences of cyber-attacks and hacking is driving the demand for web-based cyber security software. As enterprises continue to move their on-premise workload to cloud environments, application and infrastructure monitoring is gaining importance. This is increasing demand for web-based performance management monitoring tools.

Moreover, the pay-as-you-go model helps Internet software providers scale their offerings per the needs of different users. The subscription-based business model ensures recurring revenues for the industry participants.

At this stage, it will be prudent to invest in Internet software stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank to strengthen one’s portfolio.

Our Top Picks

We have narrowed our search to five Internet software stocks with strong potential for the rest of 2023. These stocks have seen positive earnings estimate revisions in the last 30 days. Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. CRWD is benefiting from the rising demand for cyber-security solutions owing to the slew of data…

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Security Firm Unciphered Posts a Video Showing a Hack of Trezor T Wallet – 24/7 Wall St.

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Investing

May 24, 2023 10:12 pm

Last Updated: May 25, 2023 11:40 am

Unciphered, a cybersecurity firm specializing in cryptocurrency recovery, posted a video in which it claims to be able to extract the seed phrase from Satoshi Labs’ Trezor T hardware wallet. The hack, however, requires both the physical possession of the wallet and specialized equipment.

Unciphered Showcases New Vulnerability of Trezor T Hardware Wallet

This Wednesday, a cybersecurity firm called Unciphered posted a video in which it claims to showcase a successful hack of Satoshi Labs’ Trezor T wallet. In the video, the company dismantles the hardware before successfully extracting the mnemonic seed phrase.

Unciphered also claims that there is no way to fix the vulnerability used for the hack other than a recall of all Trezor T wallets. The hack, however, requires the physical possession of the hardware wallet, as well as a set of specialized tools.

The demonstration sparked some speculation that Unciphered merely rediscovered a vulnerability that has been known for years, but the company denied it stating that said issue was patched in 2019. According to the firm, the vulnerability, as well as the method to exploit it have been developed “in-house”.

Hardware Wallet Security Increasingly In Question

Considering that they are designed to keep cryptocurrencies and access codes away from the internet—and, by extension, away from would-be thieves—hardware wallets have long been considered among the safest ways to store digital assets. This reputation even saw them surge in popularity as investors fled from major centralized cryptocurrency firms in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of FTX.

Recent weeks have, however, put a dent in hardware wallets’ reputation for safety. The most high-profile event that caused the new trend has been the announcement of Ledger’s new feature—Ledger Recover. The new feature coming from one of the largest hardware wallet companies sparked fears that they may ultimately have critical vulnerabilities and enable thieves to access investors’ cryptocurrency.

The…

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