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A pedestrian walks past the emblem of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) located at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2019.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on Tuesday that a cyberattack detected in February was classified as a “major incident,” compromising “highly sensitive information.”
This breach, which was first acknowledged and addressed back in February, involved data regarding the “financial condition of federally regulated financial institutions,” essential for the OCC’s examination and supervisory functions.
The OCC, responsible for the oversight and regulation of national banks, reported that it was made aware of the breach on February 11 and took immediate action to disable the affected administrative accounts the following day. The agency is currently collaborating with external cybersecurity specialists to conduct a thorough investigation of the breach and is reevaluating its IT security measures to avert future incidents.
“I have implemented prompt measures to assess the full scope of the breach and address the long-standing organizational and structural weaknesses that allowed this to occur,” stated Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood.
“We will ensure complete accountability for the vulnerabilities identified and any oversights in our internal protocols that led to unauthorized access,” he continued.
Reports indicated that the cybercriminals had unauthorized access to over 150,000 emails from June 2023 up until the recent breach, as highlighted by Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the situation.
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