The Biggest Digital Heist in History Isn’t Over Yet

Carbanak’s suspected ringleader is under arrest, but $1.2 billion remains missing, and his malware attacks live on.

Before WannaCry, before the Sony Pictures hack, and before the breaches that opened up Equifax and Yahoo!, there was a nasty bit of malware known as Carbanak. Unlike those spectacular attacks, this malware wasn’t created by people interested in paralyzing institutions for ransom, publishing embarrassing emails, or taking personal data. The Carbanak guys just wanted loot, and lots of it.

Since late 2013, this band of cybercriminals has penetrated the digital inner sanctums of more than 100 banks in 40 nations, including Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S., and stolen about $1.2 billion, according to Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency. read more »

U.S. rate-rigging payouts top $500 million as final banks settle

Investors have reached $96 million in settlements with the final five defendants in private U.S. litigation accusing banks of rigging a key interest rate benchmark in the global derivatives market, boosting the total payout to more than $500 million.

BNP Paribas SA and Morgan Stanley will each pay $33.5 million, Nomura Holdings Inc and Wells Fargo & Co will each pay $8.75 million, and brokerage ICAP Capital Markets LLC will pay $11.5 million, according to filings on Friday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Upon receiving court approval, the settlements would increase the total recovered from 14 banks plus ICAP to $504.5 million. read more »

Malaysia arrests Najib ex-aide in 1MDB probe

Malaysian authorities have made the first arrest in a renewed probe into the multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB, remanding a former aide of ousted prime minister Najib Razak to assist in investigations, Bernama news reported on Monday. read more »