Cyberheists ‘A Helluva Wake-up Call’ to Small Biz
Summary: Primary Systems Inc., a St. Louis building security and maintenance system installer, lost approximately $180,000 in May 2012 after an employee clicked a virus-laden email that opened a digital backdoor, and the attackers pushed the funds out in amounts between $5,000 and $9,000 to 26 money mules added to the firm's payroll that same day. The transfer went through Enterprise Bank & Trust on a Tuesday night, just under the $200,000 threshold that would have required the bank to obtain verbal permission, even though the company had always run payroll on Friday mornings.
Bottom line: The bank allowed up to $200,000 to move on nothing more than a username and password, and the thieves reportedly cased the firm virtually to land just under that limit. Under Regulation E, consumers are not liable for such fraud, but businesses absorb the loss themselves.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Data Breaches
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