The infamous ransomware group LockBit 3.0 acknowledged that it has breached the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America, and stolen 33TB of sensitive data containing Americans’ banking secrets.
The announcement was made on Twitter on June 23, 2024, at 20:27 UTC.
The group claimed that it had added the Federal Reserve System (federalreserve.gov) to the list of victims on its Tor data leak site.
It has also threatened to leak the stolen data on 25 June 2024 at 20:27:10 UTC if its ransom demands are not met.
However, the LockBit 3.0 group did not publish samples of the stolen data on the site.
“Federal banking is the term for the way the Federal Reserve of the United States distributes its money. The Reserve operates twelve banking districts around the country which oversee money distribution within their respective districts. The twelve cities which are home to the Reserve Banks are Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Dallas, Saint Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and San Francisco,” reads the announcement published by the LockBit 3.0 group on its leak site.
“33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing Americans’ banking secrets.
You better hire another negotiator within 48 hours, and fire this clinical idiot who values Americans’ bank secrecy at $50,000.”
No proof so prolly just blowing off steam.
— Dominic Alvieri (@AlvieriD) June 23, 2024
The above statements from the LockBit 3.0 group indicate that negotiations are ongoing between the ransomware group and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The former has even expressed displeasure with the current negotiator handling the ransom negotiations and asked for another negotiator.
The stolen data, if verified, could have serious consequences on the financial and governmental sectors, making it one of the most substantial breaches of financial data in history.
While many experts consider the LockBit 3.0 ransomware group’s declaration a gimmick to grab attention, the U.S. Federal Reserve has yet to comment on the situation.
Keep watching this space for more updates, as this is a developing story!
